We’re reading about Trump drug-price plan, AstraZeneca court loss

And so, another working week will soon draw to a close. Not a moment too soon, yes? This is, you may recall, our treasured signal to daydream about weekend plans. Our agenda involves saluting our shortest person — aka the scholar — on completing her studies with distinction. This will call for a special listening party, where the rotation will likely include this, this, this, this and this. And what about you? This is a wonderful time to enjoy the great outdoors. It may also be an opportunity to tidy up around your castle or manicure the grounds. You could catch up on your reading or plan a summer getaway. Or maybe reach out to someone special. And if mom is around, remember to say hello. Well, whatever you do, have a grand time. But be safe. Enjoy, and see you soon. …

House Republicans are considering nixing a Medicaid drug-pricing plan floated by President Trump and fiercely opposed by the pharmaceutical industry as the party pushes to strike a massive tax and spending deal in the coming days, Bloomberg News reports. But drugmakers may not be totally off the hook. Lawmakers have separately discussed eliminating a tax deduction for pharmaceutical advertising, Rep. Vern Buchanan, the chairman of the House tax committee’s health subcommittee, said Thursday. It is unclear, though, whether that provision will be in the final tax cut package. Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, a senior Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, signaled Thursday that the drug-pricing plan may be scrapped. The idea, first floated last week by the White House as a way to help pay for the president’s tax cut plan, blindsided the pharmaceutical industry and has prompted a furious lobbying campaign. Drugmakers said it could cost them $1 trillion over the next decade.

A U.S. appeals court shut down AstraZeneca’s challenge to the U.S. government program that gives Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices, Reuters reports. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that dismissed the challenge to the program, which was part of former President Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act. The court said AstraZeneca failed to show how it suffered a specific injury related to the program or that its due process rights were violated. The program requires drug companies to negotiate drug prices with Medicare. AstraZeneca makes diabetes drug Farxiga, which is among the drugs chosen for price negotiation, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. While AstraZeneca had said the price negotiations would impact its ability to make research and development decisions, the court said it failed to give an example of how that impact had materialized.