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Presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: Delivered every Tuesday and Friday by 12 p.m., Prescription Pulse examines the latest pharmaceutical news and policy. | | | | |  | | By Lauren Gardner and David Lim | Presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield Association | With Carmen Paun and Ben Leonard
| | |  Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers' announcement that she won't run for reelection has prompted interest from at least one lawmaker to replace her as E&C Committee chair. | Andrew Harnik/Associated Press | A MAJOR VACANCY ON A KEY COMMITTEE — One of the most influential health care jobs in the House is up for grabs. The race to succeed House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) is already underway after the senior Republican and close ally of Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday she will not run for reelection. Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), chair of the E&C Health Subcommittee, will run to replace her, Guthrie spokesperson DJ Griffin said. Other names in the mix include Reps. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) — the next most senior Republican on the panel — and Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), according to sources familiar with the burgeoning race. Hudson, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, would be in the strongest position if the GOP maintains control of the House. Having experience as head of the NRCC is widely viewed by Republicans as a sign of someone’s influence in the party and on the Hill. In 2016, then-Rep. Greg Walden from Oregon beat out rival John Shimkus (R-Ill.) for the committee gavel, and Walden’s past stewardship of the NRCC was cited as a key factor. McMorris Rodgers, who has been in Congress since 2005, was instrumental in negotiating a five-year reauthorization in 2022 of the FDA program that collects fees from drugmakers to help fund the agency that regulates them. IT’S FRIDAY. WELCOME BACK TO PRESCRIPTION PULSE. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) will return to Washington next week and is in “complete remission” from multiple myeloma following a stem cell treatment, according to his office. Send news and tips to Lauren Gardner (lgardner@politico.com or @Gardner_LM) or David Lim (dlim@politico.com or @davidalim).
| | | | A message from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: Make hospital pricing more fair and reasonable. It’s time for solutions that rein in health care costs, like making hospital pricing more fair and reasonable – which could save nearly $500 billion over 10 years. Learn more. | | | | | | | 
Joaquin Duato (left), CEO of Johnson & Johnson; Robert Davis (center), CEO of Merck and Chris Boerner; CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb, testify at a Senate hearing investigating prescription drug costs. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images | PHARMA CEOs UNDER FIRE — Three CEOs of major multinational drug companies appeared before the Senate HELP Committee on Thursday but made no major commitments to lowering U.S. drug prices despite Democratic entreaties. "I didn't hear any commitment that satisfied me," Pennsylvania Democrat Bob Casey said on the hearing’s sidelines. "The response so far is not commensurate with the degree and the severity of the problem." Here are three takeaways from the hourslong hearing: — CEOs rebuffed requests to lower prices. Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) pressed the executives to commit to lowering the list prices of their blockbuster drugs, citing examples of patients raising money to cover their prescriptions on websites like GoFundMe — or going without them altogether. The company leaders said U.S. customers face higher prices because the American market prioritizes innovations that can lead to more indications for a drug, spurring quicker and greater access to treatments compared with other countries. They stressed that a drug’s list price doesn’t reflect what most consumers pay because rebates and co-pay assistance programs help lower prices. And they said pharmacy middlemen that negotiate prices between insurers and drugmakers drive up costs for consumers. — Republicans raised some concerns about costs. Committee ranking member Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said he’s worried about the lack of a market force to help lower the cost of new gene therapies, which might offer life-changing benefits but carry million-plus-dollar price tags. He noted that many people with sickle cell disease live in Louisiana, whose Medicaid program could be strained by the costs of the two approved therapies for the life-threatening condition. “We want market-oriented solutions,” Cassidy said. “If my state goes bankrupt paying for a new gene therapy, then my state, the taxpayer, we, all are in tough shape.” — PBMs took heat. Senators in both parties showed interest in overhauling the role of pharmacy benefits managers in prescription drug pricing. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) suggested Democratic leadership hopes to bring a committee-approved PBM transparency bill to the floor soon. And Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said pharma companies should do more business with direct-to-consumer companies like Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs. BUPE, METHADONE PUSH — A group of senators led by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is pushing the FDA to include opioid use disorder treatments buprenorphine and methadone on its list of essential medicines, Ben reports. A Trump executive order in 2020 called on the FDA to put together such a list of drugs that are "medically necessary to have available at all times" in case of a public health emergency. The list includes hundreds of drugs and medical devices. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, Heinrich — who chairs the FDA appropriations subcommittee — and others, including Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Angus King (I-Maine), wrote that such a move would make the drugs more readily available. Many hospitals and emergency departments don’t have the treatments in their formularies, the lawmakers wrote.
| | | | CONGRESS OVERDRIVE: Since day one, POLITICO has been laser-focused on Capitol Hill, serving up the juiciest Congress coverage. Now, we’re upping our game to ensure you’re up to speed and in the know on every tasty morsel and newsy nugget from inside the Capitol Dome, around the clock. Wake up, read Playbook AM, get up to speed at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report, and fuel your nightly conversations with Inside Congress in the evening. Plus, never miss a beat with buzzy, real-time updates throughout the day via our Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here. | | | | | | | | | FDA’S CONGRESS WISHLIST — The FDA is working with health-focused congressional committees and leadership offices to promote a handful of legislative priorities in case a health care package moves alongside spending legislation in the coming weeks. Kimberlee Trzeciak, deputy FDA commissioner for policy, legislation and international affairs, said Thursday the agency is working with the Hill on a proposal to provide more “transparency and insight” into the drug supply chain as part of a potential reauthorization of pandemic preparedness programs. The agency is also offering input on xylazine, a veterinary sedative that’s increasingly being mixed with fentanyl, as part of lawmakers’ work on legislation addressing the opioid epidemic, she said during a webinar hosted by the Alliance for a Stronger FDA, which advocates for greater federal funding for the agency.
| | | | A message from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association:   | | | | | LONG-ACTING PREP DOSES TO SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA — The first dose of the long-acting injectable cabotegravir drug for HIV prevention will be administered in Zambia today. It’s the first time the drug, sold by ViiV Healthcare under the brand name Apretude in the U.S., will be available in sub-Saharan Africa outside of a clinical trial. Zambia is the second country after the U.S. to provide the drug outside of studies, according to a spokesperson for GSK, which owns the specialist HIV drug company ViiV Healthcare. The U.S. Agency for International Development supports the Zambia rollout through a grant, a spokesperson said. Why it matters: The injection is taken every two months, which makes it easier for people to adhere to the treatment regimen compared with a daily pill. The drug’s introduction could lower the incidence of HIV by about a third over two decades across sub-Saharan Africa, according to a study published last year. But there are concerns it could increase resistance to another type of HIV therapy in some cases, the study says.
| | Hyman, Phelps & McNamara has hired Ana Loloei Marsal as an attorney focused on medical devices, diagnostics and combination products. She previously worked at the FDA as a senior regulatory counsel in the Center for Devices and Radiological Health’s policy office.
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S GOVERNORS SUMMIT: Join POLITICO on Feb. 22 to dive into how Governors are wielding immense power. While Washington remains gridlocked, governors are at the center of landmark decisions in AI and tech, economic development, infrastructure, housing, reproductive health and energy. How are they setting the stage for the future of American politics, policies and priorities? How are they confronting major challenges? Explore these questions and more at the 2024 Governors Summit. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | | STAT reports on the large number of vacancies on the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, which is integral to deciding how vaccines should be used in the U.S. AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot told reporters that CMS’ initial price offer for Medicare drug price negotiations was “relatively encouraging,” EndPoints News’ Drew Armstrong reports.
| | The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices published the agenda for its Feb. 28-29 meeting to discuss recommendations for vaccines targeting the flu, Covid-19, the mosquito-borne viral disease chikungunya and more.
| | | | A message from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: Commonsense solutions for more affordable health care.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies are committed to commonsense solutions for more affordable health care. Lower prices mean lower costs for consumers and taxpayers – and could save nearly $500 billion. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
