All brand-name drugmakers could collectively lose more than $1 trillion and the pharmaceutical industry would still be the most profitable sector, according to an analysis published Nov. 14 by West Health Policy Center and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
The authors used previous research conducted by the Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Budget Office and determined that all brand-name drugmakers could collectively lose $1.05 trillion in revenue and still be more profitable than any other industry, all while maintaining current research investments.
The analysis comes as the industry's lobbying group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America argues that proposed legislation, namely House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's drug pricing bill, wouldn't allow drugmakers to spend as much money on research and development and therefore the industry would produce fewer life-saving drugs.
"Given these findings, it's likely large drug manufacturers could weather the reductions in drug spending scored under recent legislative proposals," said Sean Dickson, director of health policy at West Health Policy Center and lead author for the analysis.
Jeromie Ballreich, PhD, director of the masters in health economics and outcomes research program at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and co-author of the analysis, added that the findings "refute a common critique that big drug companies need large profits given the high risk involved in developing prescription drugs."
Read the full analysis here.