Alex Azar, a former drug industry executive who Republicans have nominated to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, on Wednesday promised to lower drug prices that he said are too high, saying he would look at abuse of patent laws that delays generic competition. Azar, who worked at Eli Lilly & Co, said his top priorities would be drug pricing, affordable healthcare, Medicare innovation and the opioid crisis that has killed tens of thousands of Americans.