Big Pharma's Best Friends
Alex Azar
Alex Azar, currently the secretary of HHS, was previously a top executive at Eli Lilly.
According to his financial disclosure, Azar’s Eli Lilly salary/bonus was $1,996,817. He also received a $1,600,000 severance package from Eli Lilly, another $756,703 in various forms of compensation from the company and made as much as $1 million in capital gains from Eli Lilly stock.
- During Azar’s tenure at Eli Lilly, the diabetes drug Humalog went from $74 a vial to $269 a vial.
- Eli Lilly increased the price of insulin by 345% while Azar was at the company.
- Eli Lilly is named as a defendant in a class action lawsuit alleging price fixing during Azar’s tenure.
[Sources: Alex Azar Financial Disclosure; The Nation; Washington Post; The Hill]