Merck CEO Says Drug-Price Debate Doesn't Account for R&D Risks

  • Competition eventually cuts into drug profits, Frazier says
  • Doesn't see tax inversion merger as best path for Merck
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Talking drug prices with President Barack Obama was just the start. Merck & Co.’s chief executive officer says he’s on a campaign to change a perception most Americans have: that pharmaceutical companies charge too much for their drugs.

Ken Frazier has been roaming the halls of Washington, a short trip from Merck headquarters in New Jersey, to make the case that the drug industry relies on a few precious years of high prices to fund research before its medications lose their patents.