Op-Ed: Jared Whitley: Consolidation in weight loss R&D would jeopardize President Trump’s drug pricing wins
Jared Whitley explains the latest in the weight loss drug space, and how some companies could jeopardize President Trump's major wins.
A muscular, populist approach to government is typified by President Teddy Roosevelt’s philosophy to “speak softly and carry a big stick.” Amidst a new century, new technology and new lifestyles demanded a new approach to government — a “New Nationalism” which frequently put him at loggerheads with corporate America and even his own party. In articulating this, he said:
“I stand for the square deal. But when I say that I am for the square deal, I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under the present rules of the game, but that I stand for having those rules changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity…The American people are right in demanding that New Nationalism, without which we cannot hope to deal with new problems.”
As he’s spent the last 100 years looking down on his successors, he must be delighted to see that one of them has finally picked that stick back up.
President Donald Trump has been enacting his own New Nationalism for the 21st Century, which frequently put him at loggerheads with corporate America and even with his own party as well. One area where this has been the case is on prescription drug prices. In May, President Trump issued a most favored nation (MFN) executive order, a strong, market-wide solution that takes steps to ensure American patients don’t pay more for medicines than patients abroad. The EO also seeks to halt the freeloading of foreign countries on American pharmaceutical innovation — which has unfairly driven up costs for U.S. consumers.
And his America First, “Big Stick” strategy has already delivered big wins for consumers in just months — pharmaceutical companies have struck deals with the White House to bring drug prices down and have announced historic investments in American manufacturing and onshoring critical pharmaceutical R&D.
In fact, despite all the hand wringing and gnashing of teeth that the President’s policy would hurt long-term, domestic research, pharmaceutical companies have announced hundreds of billions of dollars in investment into U.S. manufacturing, production, and innovation this year.
The May executive order called on manufacturers to bring prices for American patients in line with comparably developed countries. If manufacturers did not comply, President Trump voiced his administration’s intent to “deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued abusive drug pricing practices.”
As of mid-October, several major pharmaceutical companies have made agreements with the Trump administration to bring down the cost of prescription medicines in Medicaid. Collectively, these activities empower American patients to access medicines at prices they can afford, create American jobs, and fuel economic growth.
Unfortunately, not all companies have heeded the President’s call. One company that hasn’t yet made a deal with the White House on drug prices is Novo Nordisk — a Danish pharmaceutical giant with a significant market share in the GLP1 space. GLP1s have revolutionized the treatment of obesity, and in so doing, have sparked significant investment in R&D. Novo Nordisk recently made clear its intention add to its GLP1 portfolio and acquire Metsera, a biotech company researching in the GLP1 weight loss space.
Such an acquisition would be bad for American consumers on a number of fronts.
First, Novo Nordisk is a foreign company. Allowing Novo to acquire a promising U.S.-based biotech company would send jobs and profits abroad, rather than building on the significant recent progress to bolster the innovation workforce and economy in the U.S.
Second, Novo already holds a large market share in the (pardon the pun) ever-growing obesity drug market. The acquisition of Metsera could give rise to antitrust concerns and reduce competition in the GLP1 market at a time when consumers are more concerned than ever about mass corporate consolidation, as this kind of action tends to lead to higher costs for American patients.
Finally, President Trump recently announced his intention to bring down the monthly price of GLP1s to $150. Novo has already proven themselves unwilling to strike a deal with the President on MFN. Allowing them to increase their market share by acquiring another GLP1 manufacturer would hinder the President’s efforts to bring down the prices on these critical drugs.
Everything about the proposed Novo Nordisk deal clashes with the goals and progress made to ensure that U.S. consumers can access vital, American-made treatments, and the President’s America First policy agenda. Allowing foreign manufacturer Novo Nordisk — which has rejected the President’s call for reasonable prescription drug prices for Americans — to acquire Metsera is a bad idea for American jobs, the American economy, and American patients. Let’s stand for the square deal on 21st Century medicine, without which we cannot hope to deal with new problems.
Jared Whitley is a longtime politico who has worked in the US Senate, White House, and defense industry. He has an MBA from Hult International Business School in Dubai.