Drug Giants Like Biogen, Vertex to Ignore Investor Calls to Explain Price Hikes

Two of the state’s largest drugmakers, Biogen and Vertex Pharmaceuticals, are among 10 worldwide that plan to omit ballot questions on drug price transparency proposals from their annual meetings, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The WSJ reports that a group of institutional investors submitted shareholder proposals in October asking 11 U.S. drug companies to compile reports on the average annual price increases for their top-selling drugs between 2010 and 2016, and to say what their thinking was behind those increases. The investors, which the WSJ said includes “many with ties to religious organizations,” asked the companies to include the proposals on proxy ballots to be voted on at shareholder meetings this spring.

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