John and Laura Arnold's drug pricing influence runs deeper than you think

DOM SMITH/STAT

The Arnolds are everywhere: Between ICER, Patients for Affordable Drugs, I-MAK, Sloan-Kettering's Drug Pricing Lab, Waxman Strategies, and a small army of other researchers and patient advocates, the billionaire couple has provided funding to nearly every D.C. group that favors aggressive drug pricing reform. 

And, STAT's Lev Facher writes, their influence is particularly apparent when it comes to House Democrats' marquee drug pricing legislation. In 2019 alone, a half-dozen Arnold-funded advocates and academics have testified before Congress to urge aggressive reforms, and at least one has consulted with Pelosi's aides throughout the year. Another Arnold grantee, the former Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman, endorsed Pelosi's bill in an op-ed. 

Amid a broader tide of anti-pharma sentiment, the pharmaceutical industry isn't pleased that Arnold Ventures has helped push the drug pricing narrative so dramatically against the industry. But nobody can deny they've been effective. Ben Ippolito, an American Enterprise Institute health care researcher, put it this way: “This moment is ripe for somebody like John Arnold to pour more gasoline on the fire. And he’s got a lot of gasoline.” More here.