The only insulin company CEO that is listed as being at the hearing is Olivier Branicourt from Sanofi. In this article, it says this: HE FOUGHT TOOTH AND NAIL TO PROTECT THE 'DRUG' FROM GENERIC COMPETITION. FILING MORE THAN 70 PATENTS AND TAKING TWO COMPANIES TO COURT TO BLOCK CHEAPER VERSIONS FROM COMING TO MARKET.
Prepare for grilling: 7 questions for 7 pharma execs who’ll testify before Congress about prices
Olivier Brandicourt: the heel
If rhetoric in Washington over the last few months is any indication, Brandicourt may end up being the sacrificial lamb of Tuesday’s hearing. Brandicourt, the bespectacled French doctor who has led Sanofi since 2015, is likely to take the fall for the rapidly escalating cost of insulin.
Sanofi, which makes the world’s top-selling insulin, Lantus, has increased the product’s list price fourfold since 2007. And the company has also fought tooth and nail to protect the drug from generic competition, filing more than 70 patents and taking two companies to court to block cheaper versions from coming to market.
Brandicourt has taken a more conciliatory tone as of late. “Bottom line is we understand of course the anger in the U.S. about rising prescription drug costs for patients,” he told investors on a conference call this month. “We also know that too often patients are struggling to afford the medicine they need, and patient out-of-pocket costs continue to rise.”
And Sanofi is planning to use Tuesday’s hearing not to quarrel with lawmakers, but to paint themselves as willing partners in bringing down prices. “Patients have not benefited from our actions to date,” Adam Gluck, Sanofi’s head of U.S. external affairs, told STAT. “We need to do a better job of bringing more solutions focused on helping patients and look forward to doing so next week.”
WRITE TO YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND TELL THEM TO MAKE THESE PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE TO AMERICANS. THEY ARE LITERALLY KILLING PEOPLE WHILE THE CEOS ARE COLLECTING HUGE SALARIES.
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