Below is a statement from Margarida Jorge, national campaign director for Lower Drug Prices Now:

“Johnson & Johnson’s promise to provide a future coronavirus vaccine on a ‘not-for-profit basis’ rings hollow. J&J has a record of promising not-for-profit prices on life-saving drugs, and then gouging patients for the same medicines later on. That’s why we know we can’t trust Johnson & Johnson not to profiteer on this one.

“We shouldn’t have to depend on goodwill or promises from drug corporations to get access to affordable treatments and vaccines for COVID-19. Congress has already turned over hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to develop those medicines. Now it’s time for lawmakers to ensure in law that we’ll get the drugs we’ve already paid for by guaranteeing that all treatments and vaccines created with public funding will be affordable at low or no cost to everyone who needs them.

Background:

Johnson & Johnson’s track record demonstrates that they cannot be trusted to put the health of patients ahead of its own predatory profit-making:

• The government has already committed $3.7 billion in taxpayer funds to cover the research, development and manufacturing for promising coronavirus treatments.
• Johnson & Johnson has already received more than $600 million from U.S. taxpayers for a coronavirus vaccine.
• Johnson & Johnson claims to offer the TB drug bedaquiline at a not-for-profit price, but an analysis by researchers from the University of Liverpool found they are charging over double the cost of production.
• Johnson & Johnson hiked the price of their blood thinner Xarelto 87% and arthritis medication Remicade by 63% over 5 years.
• Johnson & Johnson controls 7 of the top 50 selling drugs in the world, and already this year has raised prices on 6 of them.
• Johnson & Johnson made billions sourcing opioids to fuel the man-made opioid epidemic that now kills about 130 people a day. J&J played a major role as an opioid raw materials producer and distributor and even manufactured and sold its own opioid drugs, regardless of the harm that opioids have done to communities everywhere. The company has already faced reputational damage and massive fines for its role in the opioid crisis.
• Johnson & Johnson deceptively marketed baby powder they knew caused cancer to African American families.

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Lower Drug Prices Now is a national coalition of nearly 60 social, racial and economic justice organizations with members in all fifty states. We are committed to transformative, systemic and bold reforms to ensure everyone has access to affordable medicines — no matter where they live, what they look like or how much money they have. Learn more at https://www.lowerdrugpricesnow.org/ and follow us on Twitter @peopleb4pharma.