Drug lobbies have refused to send any representatives to a White House meeting scheduled for July 28 in which they would discuss recent executive orders on drug pricing with President Donald Trump, according to Politico.
Pharma industry executives told Politico they are still processing the four executive orders released on July 24, as they are worried the new rules will hinder innovation and drug availability.
BIO, a lobby that advocates for small biotech companies, told Politico new regulations will affect its drugmakers the most, as the prices of their expensive cancer and chronic disease drugs would change greatly.
"The president's plan to import policies from socialized health care systems abroad is disrupting our work [on COVID-19 therapies] and diverting our focus away from those life-saving efforts," a spokesperson for the PhMA lobby told Politico. "We remain willing to discuss ways to lower costs for patients at the pharmacy counter. However, we remain steadfastly opposed to policies that would allow foreign governments to set prices for medicines in the United States."
During a July 28 news conference, President Trump told drugmakers they have a month to propose a better alternative to the new rules.
"The White House has been more than accommodating in attempts to schedule this meeting," a White House official told Politico.