Lawmakers Target 7 Companies in MS Drug Pricing Probe

Aug. 21, 2017

U.S. House Democrats have launched an investigation into why prices for Multiple Sclerosis treatments have risen sharply since 2004, sending requests for information to seven drugmakers.

U.S. Representatives Elijah Cummings and Peter Welch sent the letters to Bayer, Biogen, Merck KGaA's EMD Serono unit, Novartis, Roche Holding, Sanofi, and Teva Pharmaceutical, asking for details about their drug pricing policies.

According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the average annual cost of MS therapy rose from $16,000 in 2004 to $78,000 in 2016.

Read the Reuters coverage