Debate: Trump lauds mifepristone ruling, Biden touts IRA win

In a US Presidential debate that was low on policy substance and high on hyperbole, falsehoods, and personal attacks, pharma industry issues played a minor role, but did crop up in ways both predictable (President Joe Biden touting the drug pricing provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act) and surprising (former President Donald Trump coming out in support of the Supreme Court's mifepristone ruling).

The latter was one of the few times Biden and Trump actually responded directly to the questions asked to them by moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. Trump was asked "As president, would you block abortion medication?"

"First of all, the Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill and I agree with their decision to have done that and I will not block it," Trump said, before going on to state incorrectly that there was broad, bipartisan agreement that Roe v Wade should be overturned and abortion left up to the states.

Trump had not previously weighed in on the mifepristone decision, so his straightforward answer was notable and puts the former president on the record should he win the election in November.

The drug price negotiation provisions of the IRA featured prominently in Biden's closing statements, along with tax reform and the child welfare tax credit. Though Biden fumbled the wording, as he often did throughout the night, he ended with a strong statement about the benefit of the law for both seniors and the federal budget.

"Know what that did?" he said. "That reduced the federal debt by $160 billion over 10 years because the government doesn't have to pay the exorbitant prices. I'm going to make that available to every senior."

Interestingly, the $35 insulin cap had already come up earlier in the debate, inexplicably during Trump's response to a question about climate change. Trump attempted to take credit for the cap, saying "I'm the one got the insulin taken care of for seniors". Biden corrected him, saying that, while Trump got a single company to voluntarily cap prices, Biden signed a mandatory pricing cap into law for all Medicare beneficiaries.

In the leadup to the debate yesterday, Neera Tanden, domestic policy advisor to President Biden, spoke at length about drug prices at a Center for American Progress event, drawing attention to the inflation rebate programme in the IRA and the fact that Medicare has already lowered co-insurance on 59 Part B drugs, saving seniors up to $3,575 per dose. 

Taking Tanden's well-timed appearance with the IRA's featured spot in Biden's prepared closing remarks, it seems clear that the President is planning to make drug pricing a centrepiece of his pitch to the American people as the election draws nearer. And, given that lowering drug prices is a proven political winner, perhaps it's no surprise that Trump wanted to take the credit for himself. 

Other pharma hot topics were narrowly missed in the debate. For instance, while moderators asked candidates about the opioid crisis, Trump and Biden mostly pivoted the question to immigration, Trump's preferred topic of the night. Additionally, at the start of the debate the two sparred about their administrations' respective COVID policies, with Trump blasting Biden for "mandating the vaccine".