Trump tariffs, Drug Companies, and why one fat American is worth more than 7 fat Chinese

American officials are passing new regulations intended to drive Chinese companies out of our pharmaceutical supply chains. And drug companies seem to concur, as they say publicly that they, too, need to diversify away from China.

The reality is the opposite. US and European drugmakers make giant profits from the drugs that are manufactured in China, then licensed for sale in the American market. Their motivation is the enormous price difference, between what patients pay in the United States, compared to the rest of the world.


Resources and links:

Substack, for video transcript and direct links
https://open.substack.com/pub/....kdwalmsley/p/trumps-

Novo’s Wegovy Launched in China at a Fraction of US Price
https://www.biospace.com/drug-....delivery/novos-wegov

Bloomberg, Novo Nordisk Launches Wegovy in China With Prices Below US
https://www.bloomberg.com/news..../articles/2024-11-18

Fortune, Novo Nordisk launches Wegovy in China with prices well below U.S.
https://fortune.com/2024/11/18..../novo-nordisk-launch

China's Rising Role On The Global Stage In The Oncology Market
https://www.outsourcedpharma.c....om/doc/china-s-risin

Toripalimab Becomes First Immunotherapy Drug Approved for Nasopharyngeal Cancer
https://www.cancer.gov/news-ev....ents/cancer-currents

The US is relying more on China for pharmaceuticals — and vice versa
https://www.atlanticcouncil.or....g/blogs/econographic

Major Life Sciences Licensing Deal Trends in China in 2023
https://www.goodwinlaw.com/en/....insights/publication

Wall Street Journal, U.S. Drugmakers Are Breaking Up With Their Chinese Supply-Chain Partners
https://www.wsj.com/health/pha....rma/china-manufactur

Reuters, Merck signs up to $3.3 billion cancer drug deal with China-based LaNova
https://www.reuters.com/busine....ss/healthcare-pharma

Merck licenses Chinese cancer drug, searching for next Keytruda blockbuster
https://www.statnews.com/2024/....11/14/merck-keytruda

PBS, How Russian oil is reaching the U.S. market through a loophole in the embargo
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/s....how/how-russian-oil-

CBS News/60 Minutes, Russia works around international sanctions designed to cripple the economy amid war with Ukraine
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/r....ussia-works-around-i

Politico, Grappling with supply chain crunch
https://www.politico.com/newsl....etters/politico-puls

A Bilateral Approach to Address Vulnerability in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
https://www.csis.org/analysis/....bilateral-approach-a

Closing scene, Blue Moon Valley, Lijiang, Yunnan