Is pharma walking into a disaster?

The drug industry knows its way around a congressional inquiry. When they ask about drug prices, mention the riskiness of science. When they ask about out-of-pocket costs, point to the confusing network of middlemen. And when they ask about profits, be sure to mention patients.

But this time might be different. Later this morning, seven pharma executives will testify before the Senate finance committee, and the zeitgeist is not going in their favor. On Sunday, a New York Times editorial declared that “It’s Time for Pharmaceutical Companies to Have Their Tobacco Moment,” and, yesterday, the chairman of that committee issued an ominous warning on Twitter:



That same day, the lobbying group PhRMA debuted a new TV ad, one that might offer some clues to the counter-narrative. The minute-long commercial rattles off a few of the industry’s recent scientific successes before fading into a title card that reads “America is the leader in medical innovation. Let’s keep it that way.” The final words are “fight to protect breakthroughs,” implying that by skewering the drug industry, lawmakers are standing in the way of scientific progress.

Anyway the hearing starts at 10:15 a.m. ET, and you can watch it right here.