Cancer Drug Price-Cutting Pitch Mulled by HHS as Industry Waits

The Biden administration is weighing a drug pricing control proposition that attorneys and industry watchers say could bolster efforts to lower prescription costs even if it isn’t adopted.

Astellas Pharma’s blockbuster cancer drug Xtandi is a prime candidate for the Biden administration to try seizing drug patents to lower its cost. That’s the argument Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) and other interest groups are making to the Department of Health and Human Services, adding that under the proposed approach, the government would also be off the hook for paying the drugmaker royalties.

Astellas is no stranger to attacks over the ...