I don't think that has any impact whatsoever. If people think they are buying a drug from a manufacturer they are wrong. Typically they are paying insurance who pays the pharmacy, who pays the PBM who pays the Manufacturer. This is true for generics and brand-name. Each step has price negotiations and a bunch of mixed incentives.
>If people think they are buying a drug from a manufacturer they are wrong.
No one is saying that (at least on this thread).
All I'm saying laypeople assume the mfg is the bad guy when it comes to high drug prices. Time and time again on the news we are told that X drug costs $$$$$ in the US and the exact same drug costs orders of magnitude less in some other country. Everyone points the finger at the drug mfgs.
What I'm saying is that it's good that the secret is getting out that the mfgs are not necessarily the bad guys, and there's all these other companies involved in the drug price crisis.
But that's wrong. Those high prices come from high prices set by the manufacturer. (Side note - why is there a "g" in "manufacturer"?)
Other parties are still free to mark up their goods for resale. But drugs they bought for cheap get sold for (less) cheap, and drugs they bought at a high price get sold at a high(er) price. When you see an eye-popping price, that's because the manufacturer charged an eye-popping price.