Report Finds Big Drug Companies Raked in Nearly $29 Billion in Profits & Spent Over $28 Billion Rewarding Shareholders In Just The First Three Months of 2024
Washington, DC — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) and U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06) joined Protect Our Care to call out big pharmaceutical companies for continuing to put profits over patients. During the call, Protect Our Care released a new report summarizing big drug companies’ recent investor reports, demonstrating how they are raking in profit and rewarding shareholders while more than 1 in 3 Americans are cutting pills or skipping doses because they can’t afford their medication.
The report is the latest in Protect Our Care’s Greed Watch series, highlighting the hypocrisy of big drug companies. While drug companies are raking in billions, they are working to undermine the Inflation Reduction Act by filing lawsuits and increasing their lobbying to protect their profits. Drug companies have been working behind the scenes with Republican lawmakers to repeal all of the Inflation Reduction Act’s provisions aimed at making prescription drugs more affordable for seniors. Big drug companies claim that the new law to make drugs more affordable will harm patients, but in reality, they’re telling investors the opposite and spending billions on rewarding their investors through stock buybacks and dividends, paying their executives millions, and spending millions lobbying to keep their prices high.
“For too long, pharmaceutical companies have cashed in on the vulnerabilities of patients needing access to life-saving medication, charging patients sky-high prices with no repercussions. We’re working to change that,” said Senator Peter Welch (D-VT). “I’m fighting in the Senate to advance legislation that builds off our success in the Inflation Reduction Act, bringing more prescription drugs to negotiation, faster and sooner. Seniors and families shouldn’t be forced to put up with Big Pharma’s greed, and Congress shouldn’t let Big Pharma off the hook.”
“Democrats are fighting every day to confront pharmaceutical companies who are putting profits over patients and are making billions of dollars at the expense of hardworking Americans,” said Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06). “The Inflation Reduction Act is a landmark piece of legislation, and we’re already seeing the impacts and the cost savings for people across the country. Unfortunately, big drug companies continue to charge some of the highest prices in the world for the vital medicines that Americans need to stay healthy. If you’re sick in this country, and you need medicine, you should be able to get it, no matter who you are or where you live.”
“Today we’re putting drug company greed on full display,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “While drug companies are claiming they need to charge Americans more than anyone in the world for prescription drugs, they are celebrating massive profits on Wall Street. The Inflation Reduction Act is reining in drug prices for patients by stopping outrageous price hikes, capping costs for seniors, and giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices. President Biden and Democrats took on Big Pharma and won, but drug companies and their Republican allies are not backing down on their fight to rip away all of this progress and make it even harder for patients to get the drugs they need to survive.”
Key Report Findings:
- Big drug companies started off 2024 by raking in $29 billion in profits. In the first three months of 2024, 15 of the biggest drug companies reported nearly $173 billion in revenue and nearly $29 billion in net profits – eye-popping figures that reflect the record-high prices these companies charge for drugs.
- The drug companies suing to block Medicare from negotiating lower prices brought in billions in revenue and profits, and spent lavishly to reward shareholders. In the first three months of 2024, the ten drugs selected for Medicare’s first round of negotiations brought in $16.5 billion in revenue, while the companies that manufacture these drugs raked in $25.4 billion in combined profits and spent nearly $26 billion rewarding shareholders in the form of stock buybacks and dividends.