Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Drugmakers Are Unfairly Restricting Competition, And Congress Needs To Act
Stat: It’s Time To Empower Generic Drug Makers To Bring Down Prices
In Vermont, Iowa, and every other state across the country, people are fed up with the high cost of prescription drugs. Prices continue to skyrocket as companies making brand-name drugs restrict competition by refusing to share samples of their drugs with companies aiming to make generic versions or refusing to negotiate a shared safety protocol. This is an abuse of government regulations that are intended to protect patients and ensure drug safety. (Patrick Leahy and Chuck Grassley, 3/16)
The Hill: Be Wary Of Canada’s Drug Price Controls And Lack Of IP Protections
There is an ill-thought out war underway on brand-name drug prices and pharmaceutical intellectual property (IP). Washington can learn from Canada’s mistakes. President Trump has asked CEOs of research-based pharmaceutical manufacturers to lower U.S. drug prices and increase jobs in America. Given the fact more is already spent on pharmaceutical R&D in the U.S. than anywhere else, this presents a serious challenge for U.S. and other global pharmaceutical companies. (Robert A. Freeman, 3/19)
Forbes: Strike The Right Regulatory Balance To Promote Generic Medicines And Future Innovation
Striking the right regulatory balance for pharmaceuticals is no easy task. On the one hand, policy should promote drug affordability by encouraging robust competition. On the other hand, policy should encourage future innovations by granting these drugs temporary market exclusivity. While these goals appear contradictory, the federal government’s drug approval process has reasonably balanced these competing interests for many years. This approval process is based on legislation passed in 1984 colloquially known as the Hatch-Waxman Act. (Wayne Winegarden, 3/14)
The Wall Street Journal: A GOP Right-To-Try Fumble
President Trump has never been accused of being a policy wonk, but now and then he fixates on a good idea, and one has been the “right to try” experimental drug therapies still seeking approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The question is why a GOP Congress is bungling this ostensible White House priority. (3/20)
Bloomberg: Alzheon IPO S-1: Beware Biotechs Bearing Alzheimer's Retreads
Perseverance can be admirable. But in biotechnology, it's often a mistake. Massachusetts biotech Alzheon Inc. filed an S-1 with the SEC on Friday ahead of a planned IPO. It should arguably come with a warning label. The company plans to run a a new final-stage trial for a previously failed Alzheimer's drug, saying it benefited a subset of patients in an earlier trial. (Max Nisen, 3/19)
Forbes: Physicians And Patients Finally Avoiding Horizon's Expensive, Low-Value Pain Drugs Duexis And Vimovo
Nary a day goes by without a story on the cost of drugs. The discussion tends to blur a variety of different issues: the cost of breakthrough cures of diseases like childhood leukemia or hepatitis C, unconscionable price increases of generic drugs, and multiple price increases of patented branded drugs in a given year. These issues and others merit discussion as people try to rein in healthcare costs. (John LaMattina, 3/15)
