Sunday, July 23, 2023

Merck Is Spending Heavily In A Quarter That Larger Competitor Pfizer Decided... To Back Out Of, On Lobbying. Fascinating.


Perhaps this will reverse in Qs 3 and 4, but it is odd that Merck as a much smaller by market cap entity is outspending the gorilla Pfizer, in a quarter when it is also actively litigating against the very payors who feed it: CMS and HHS. Odd, indeed.

In any event, here is what Merck spent its millions urging. [With analogous posts about Amgen and likely Lilly, tomorrow. Do see at bottom, for what the trend looked like, last quarter -- almost a complete. . . inversion, in spending!]

. . .H.R. 3, (117th Cong.) Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act; H.R. 19, (117th Cong.) Lower Costs, More Cures Act of 2021; H.R. 830, Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act; H.R. 1418/S. 1844, Animal Drug User Fee Amendments of 2023; H.R. 1503/S. 1844, Prescription Information Modernization Act of 2023; H.R. 1550, (117th Cong.) PREVENT HPV Cancers Act of 2021; H.R. 2679, Pharmacy Benefits Manager Accountability Act; H.R. 2691, Transparent Prices Required to Inform Consumer and Employers (Transparent PRICE) Act; H.R. 2816, Pharmacy Benefit Manager Sunshine and Accountability Act; H.R. 2880, Protecting Patients Against PBM Abuses Act; H.R. 2940/S. 1355, Pioneering Antimicrobial Subscriptions To End Upsurging Resistance Act (PASTEUR) Act of 2023; H.R. 3290, To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to ensure transparency and oversight of the 340B drug discount program; H.R. 3285, Fairness for Patient Medications Act; H.R. 4368/S. 2131, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024 S. 150, Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2023; S. 2543 (116th Congress) Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019; S. 1895 (116th Congress) Lower Health Care Costs Act; S. 4348, (117th Cong) Food and Drug Administration Safety and Landmark Advancements (FDASLA) Act of 2022. . . .

Issues relating to: 340B program integrity; 340B of the Public Health Services Act; 340B issues; 340B drug pricing program; Drug pricing; Anti-microbial Resistance; Vaccines; Cost and value of medicines; Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) immunization; Vaccines catch up; Vaccines issues; Package inserts, labeling issues, and E-Labeling authorization legislation; Pharmaceutical Supply Channel issues; Drug shortage issues; Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), issues relating to drug pricing provisions; FY-2023 Budget and Appropriations Legislation; Intellectual property protection; WTO Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement; WTO IP Waiver for COVID therapeutics. . . .

Animal Health; Animal Health Technology Issues; Animal Health Policy Issues: ADUFA and Funding for Electronic Animal Traceability; Animal Drug User Fee Reauthorization; One Health Issues. . . .

General pharmaceutical issues; Farm Bill 2023; Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP); Step therapy requirements in commercial health plans; Diversity in clinical trials; Accelerated approval reform; Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) policy issues. . . .

H.R. 1613, Drug Price Transparency in Medicaid Act of 2023; H.R. 2666, Medicaid VBPs for Patients (MVP) Act; H.R. 5376, (117th Cong.) Build Back Better Act; S. 476 (116th Congress) Creating Transparency to Have Drug Rebates Unlocked (C-THRU) Act of 2019. . . .

Issues relating to: Medicare; Medicare Part B and D drug pricing issues; Prior authorization process under Medicare Advantage plans; 340B program integrity; 340B of the Public Health Services Act; 340B drug pricing program; Drug Pricing; FY-2023 Budget and Appropriations Legislation. . . .

Issues related to: Tax reform and tax policy, generally; Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-97); Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), provisions relating to taxes. . . .


Now you know. What a weird ride this has been -- against a solid, two-decades-running. . . trend.

And just to make plain how off the grid this Q2 2023 was, look at Pfizer, last quarter -- it spent nearly double what it spent this quarter. Wow:



नमस्ते

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now that the days of the pandemic are primarily in the rear view mirror, what has become of the agreement between Pfizer and BioNTech? Are they still collaborating on mRNA or is that over? Also, Moderna got a lot of the coverage, but how does BioNTech compare to them in capabilities and pipeline??

Thanks for your thoughts.

condor said...

The agreements continue. In fact, in late June, Pfizer began manufacturing “at risk” to be ready, assuming the pair’s Omicron variant vaccine will win approval, thus:

The companies have manufactured Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted monovalent COVID-19 vaccines at risk to ensure readiness ahead of the fall and winter season. Pending regulatory review and approval, the companies expect to be ready to ship Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted monovalent COVID-19 vaccines immediately. Pfizer and BioNTech have also submitted an application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and expect to initiate submissions to other regulatory authorities in the coming weeks.…

Here is that press release, in full:

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1776985/000177698523000043/a99_1xbbsblafdastatement62.htm

So I think it will be an active collaboration, as long as new variants emerge.

Great question!

Do stop back.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the response. How do BioNTech and Moderna stack up against each other over the long term? Do you think BioNTech has a strong pipeline of other candidates besides COVID-19 vaccinations??

condor said...

I don't think it is an "either / or" question. I'd be happy holding both, although Moderna's other candidates are further advanced than BioNTech's -- at least at the moment.

Both are attractively priced, if you believe mRNA is a solid approach -- as I do.

But in general, I don't give specific investment advice here -- other than to call out fairly egregious frauds (like Theranos and Shkreli).

Both of these are great companies with solid science teams, and careful management teams. . . I like them. . . both.

I'd look for BioNTech's latest quarterly results to have more detail, in about a week or two.

Hope this helps!

Cheers. . . . and keep it spinning in good karma!

Anonymous said...

Appreciate your perspective, as you're much more knowledgeable than I am. Moderna and Pfizer seemed to get all of the headlines and I wasn't clear where BioNTech stood as an independent company.

condor said...

Gotcha -- Namaste. . . .