Drug makers’ non-profit pledges aren’t placating activists

The drug pricing advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs is calling on PhRMA, the drug industry trade group, to take down a recent Twitter ad in which a PhRMA executive claims that many of the association’s member companies have pledged not to profit off a future vaccine. 

While it’s true that Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca have both taken a pricing pledge, Patients for Affordable Drugs is quick to note that both of the companies have only pledged to not profit from the vaccine during the course of the coronavirus pandemic. 

“PhRMA is not telling the truth in its ads,” David Mitchell, Patients for Affordable Drug's founder and president, told STAT in a statement. “None of the companies has committed to ‘no profit for that company.’ To the contrary, it’s classic bait and switch — claiming the vaccine will be not for profit initially and then increasing the price whenever the drug companies decide the emergency is over.”

STAT asked both companies whether they would profit from the vaccine after the pandemic subsided. Both said it was too early to predict whether the vaccine will be needed after the pandemic subsides and what that will mean for pricing. 

“It is simply too early to know if this vaccine will be needed on a regular basis in years to come,” a spokeswoman for AstraZeneca told STAT. “We also hope and expect that there will be other vaccines available in the future which means there will be competition which would be good to keep prices in check.”

“We have made a commitment to making sure potential treatments and vaccines are affordable and accessible to patients. While they are busy throwing accusations at our industry, we are working around the clock to beat COVID-19,” PhRMA spokeswoman Holly Campbell responded.