{"id":2463101,"date":"2023-04-24T14:00:17","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T18:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/?p=2463101"},"modified":"2023-04-24T17:29:59","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T21:29:59","slug":"shareholders-request-equitable-access-to-medicines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/shareholders-request-equitable-access-to-medicines\/","title":{"rendered":"Shareholders Request Equitable Access To Medicines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Despite opposition from board and management, beginning this week, eleven proposals pressing for governance changes to increase health equity will go to a shareholder vote at top <a href=\"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/worst-performing-healthcare-stocks-in-jan-2023\/\">pharma companies<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Shareholders Demand Equitable Access To Medicines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>NEW YORK, NY, MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2023 \u2013 <\/strong> Shareholders today announced their slate of eleven proposals for 2023 pharma proxies on the use of patents, pharma lobbying, and pricing and access strategies for COVID-19 medicines have successfully made it onto the 2023 proxies of eight pharmaceutical companies.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In nearly all cases, board and management opposed the proposals and petitioned to have them excluded from their proxies but the SEC denied their requests.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The largest group (seven proposals) requests that companies issue reports on how patents impact patients\u2019 access to medicines. Prescription drugs\u2014and branded specialty medicines in particular\u2014are costly in the U.S.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"ca-widget\" data-token=\"k8f5c9ac62a4\"><\/div><script async=\"\" defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/secure.money.com\/embeds\/embedder.js?v=1\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>Three in ten Americans report not taking their medicine as prescribed due to cost. The proposals<em> seek to understand whether access and affordability are being considered in petitions for patent exclusivity extensions \u2013 a mainstay sector strategy to block competition and maintain high prices for branded drugs.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shareholders will vote on this proposal at the annual general meetings (AGMs) of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/worst-performing-mega-cap-stocks-in-feb-2023\/\">AbbVie <\/a>(NYSE:ABBV),  Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD), Johnson &amp; Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Merck (NYSE:MRK), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Regeneron (NASDAQ:REGN).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given the high prices their products command absent competition, branded drug makers have a strong incentive to delay generic competition as long as possible. One commonly deployed strategy is to create \u201cpatent thickets\u201d &#8212; numerous overlapping patents on a drug filed after the primary patent has been granted by the FDA.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This tactic allows branded drug makers to hold off generic competition for several years or more and keep their prices high.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cWe support authentic innovation at pharma companies; patent thickets aren\u2019t that,\u201d<\/em> said Meg Jones-Monteiro, ICCR\u2019s Sr. Program Director for Health Equity.<em> \u201cBy the time a pharma company enters a drug into the market, it has already planned its petitions for future secondary and tertiary patents to prolong its exclusivity<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>These \u2018patent thickets\u2019 are quite elaborate and include things like petitions for exclusivity on the formulations, dosing, or methods of using, administering, or manufacturing a drug, which together conspires to impede primary patent expiration and lower-cost generic manufacturing.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>What is the point of innovation, if only a small percentage of Americans can gain access and afford it?\u201d <\/em>said Br. Robert Wotypka, Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order, of investors\u2019 decision to file. \u201c<em>Is the average U.S. taxpayer less worthy of life-saving drugs? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Our proposal seeks transparency on a process that determines what Merck considers when applying for a secondary patent <u>after<\/u> the main patent has been granted. It will not impede innovation. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The report on the \u2018process\u2019 will bring light to the covert strategy of keeping drug prices unaffordable and inaccessible to the average U.S. taxpayer.&#8221; <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A second group of resolutions centers on COVID-19 product access and tech transfer that would facilitate access. COVID-19 continues to cause deaths, long-term health consequences, and economic disruption across the globe.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Johnson &amp; Johnson and Merck shareholders will vote on proposals asking whether the companies\u2019 receipt of government support is considered when they set their product access and pricing strategies.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moderna and Pfizer shareholders will vote on proposals calling for the companies to share their vaccine IP and technical knowledge with manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThe world is still racked by yawning inequity in accessing lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, putting people\u2019s lives, public health, and the global economy at risk,\u201d <\/em>said Jennifer Reid, Senior Advisor, Health and Vaccine Equity at Oxfam America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>Meanwhile, public policymakers and the media continue to expose Big Pharma\u2019s corporate greed and sky-high drug pricing. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The only sustainable solution to improve global access, affordability and accountability for lifesaving COVID-19 tools is for Big Pharma to share their technology, boost local manufacturing, and be much more transparent about their drug pricing, public funding, and access decisions.\u201d<\/em>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A third proposal challenges Eli Lilly and Co ($LLY), on its lobbying spending and activities, and whether they facilitate or impede equitable access to medicines. Pharmaceutical and healthcare companies spent a record $372 million on lobbying at the federal level in 2022, outstripping all other industries.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Said Laura Krausa, System Director Advocacy Programs, CommonSpirit Health, <em>&#8220;Pharmaceutical innovation is essential to improving health and well-being, but healthier living is possible only if innovative medicines are accessible and affordable. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>We want Lilly to take greater steps towards transparency about how it balances the potentially conflicting goals of access and innovation when it lobbies lawmakers.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Johnson &amp; Johnson and Pfizer\u2019s AGMs will kick off the pharma AGM season on Thursday, May 27<sup>th<\/sup>; Regeneron will close out the pharma AGM season in early June.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To see the full text of the proposals visit our website at  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iccr.org\/2023-pharma-proposals-proxy\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">this link<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Celebrating its 51st year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iccr.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">ICCR<\/a> is the pioneer coalition of shareholder advocates who view the management of their investments as a catalyst for social change. Its 300-member organizations comprise faith communities, socially responsible asset managers, unions, pensions, NGOs, and other socially responsible investors with combined assets of over $4 trillion.  <\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite opposition from board and management, beginning this week, eleven proposals pressing for governance changes to increase health equity will &#8230; <a title=\"Shareholders Request Equitable Access To Medicines\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/shareholders-request-equitable-access-to-medicines\/\" aria-label=\"More on Shareholders Request Equitable Access To Medicines\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2476,"featured_media":2463115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6640],"tags":[665030,665031,665032,645498],"states":[],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Umair Tariq","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463101"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2463101"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2463135,"href":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463101\/revisions\/2463135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2463115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2463101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2463101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2463101"},{"taxonomy":"states","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valuewalk.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/states?post=2463101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}