Politico reports:

Pfizer’s CEO sent a video message to company employees urging them to fight proposed government drug price negotiations and expressing frustration with Congress, which is considering using the projected savings to help pay for a $3.5 trillion social spending package.

Albert Bourla said he was “particularly disappointed” that a House Democratic leadership-backed drug pricing plan and similar proposals “will have a little positive impact on patients where it really matters at the pharmacy,” according to the three-minute video, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO.

While Bourla echoed complaints previously raised by pharmaceutical companies about proposed reforms slowing new drug development, he framed advocacy against the measures as another effort for his staff on the back of an exceptional year in which the company’s Covid-19 vaccine became a keystone of the global pandemic response. [Continue reading…]