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In a setback to the pharmaceutical industry, a federal court judge in Canada has dismissed a challenge by drug makers that contended controversial new government rules designed to regulate excessive pricing would inhibit innovation and hurt the Canadian economy. Last August, the government passed regulations for patented drugs that would base Canadian prices on those from a group of countries with lower prices than a benchmark group now used to set ceilings. The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board would also review new drugs based on cost effectiveness assessments. (Silverman, 6/30)

AS CEO OF Novartis, the world’s second-largest drug company, Vas Narasimhan knows that Big Pharma is an object of love and hate. Pharmaceutical products save lives and help people manage difficult medical conditions. But the industry’s drug prices are often indefensible, and companies’ practices are sometimes questionable or worse. In the pandemic year of 2020, the stakes are even higher, as people look to Narasimhan’s industry to produce preventions or cures for the SARS-CoV-2 virus devastating the world’s health and economy. (Levy, 6/30)

Remdesivir, the first drug shown to be effective against the coronavirus, will be distributed under an unusual agreement with the federal government that establishes nonnegotiable prices and prioritizes American patients, health officials announced on Monday. Remdesivir will be sold for $520 per vial, or $3,120 per treatment course, to hospitals for treatment of patients with private insurance, according to the Department of Health and Human Services and Gilead Sciences, the drug’s manufacturer. (Kolata, 6/29)

Momentum for Senate Finance Chair Chuck Grassley’s drug pricing measure stalled long ago amid GOP concerns — and got even more stuck as attention turned fully to the coronavirus pandemic. Now it may have fallen apart entirely amid partisan finger-pointing, leaving few options for meaningful reform before the November elections. Grassley in a Wall Street Journal op-ed claimed Democrats “left the negotiating table” on the bill, S. 2543, because their party leadership wanted to use drug prices as an election year talking point. “Perhaps they hope to pass more left-leaning legislation next year, if they win more power," Grassley wrote. (Owermohle, 6/30)