‘Go ahead and do it’: Top RFK Jr. Deputy Dares Drugmakers Over Threats to Pull Manufacturing Amid Price Pressure

Calley Means, a top advisor to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., publicly challenged drugmakers—specifically Roche—daring them to follow through on threats to pull U.S. manufacturing in response to new federal price pressures1.

The Biden administration, represented by RFK Jr., is pushing to lower U.S. drug prices to levels comparable with Europe, in part through executive action and by removing traditional middlemen from the supply chain2.

A recent executive order gives drugmakers a 30-day window to voluntarily lower prices before further government-imposed limits on what the government will pay for medications take effect; if companies refuse, HHS will develop rules tying U.S. prices to those in other countries3.

RFK Jr. has stated that escalating measures will be taken if drug companies do not cooperate, including potential new regulations and pricing benchmarks tied to international reference prices23.

The challenge from Calley Means highlights the administration’s willingness to confront industry pushback and signals a hardline stance against pharmaceutical companies leveraging manufacturing threats as a bargaining tool1.

Sources:

1. https://endpts.com/top-rfk-jr-advisor-dares-drugmakers-over-threats-to-drop-manufacturing-promises/

2. https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/how-soon-will-drug-prices-drop-rfk-jr-says-timeline-depends-big-pharma

3. https://www.medpagetoday.com/washington-watch/washington-watch/115617