Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) on Jan. 29, published a damning report revealing the devastating effects of Big Pharma mergers and acquisitions on U.S. healthcare and recommending steps Congress should take to enact “comprehensive, urgent reform” of an integral part of a broken healthcare system.
The report, “Killer Profits: How Big Pharma Takeovers Destroy Innovation and Harm Patients,” begins by noting that “in just 10 years, the number of large, international pharmaceutical companies decreased six-fold, from 60 to only 10.”
While pharmaceutical executives often attempt to portray such consolidation as a means to increase operational efficiency, the report states that “digging a level deeper ‘exposes a troubling industry-wide trend of billions of dollars of corporate resources going toward acquiring other pharmaceutical corporations with patent-protected blockbuster drugs instead of putting those resources toward’ discovery of new drugs.”
Merger and acquisition deals are often executed to “boost stock prices,” to “stop competitors,” and to “acquire an innovative blockbuster drug with an enormous prospective revenue stream.”
“Instead of spending on innovation, Big Pharma is hoarding its money for salaries and dividends,” the report says, “all while swallowing smaller companies, thus making the marketplace far less competitive.”
The report calls merger and acquisitions “just the tip of the iceberg