The coronavirus could help pharma reset its reputation in Washington

WASHINGTON — The coronavirus outbreak could be the pharmaceutical industry’s ticket to saving its reputation in Washington.

Already, the fervid crusade to contain the epidemic refocused a White House meeting centered on high drug prices onto the industry’s ostensibly more commendable work to develop vaccines and therapies that target the virus. And there are early indications the industry is leveraging the shift in the conversation: new ads from the industry trade group PhRMA, featured recently in several D.C. health policy newsletters, implore readers to “See how the industry is helping.”

It comes just months after a September poll showed the pharmaceutical industry is the most loathed in America, and as more and more lawmakers signal an interest in once-radical policies to rein in drug