Meaningful legislation required to control biotech medicine cost, says PCMA

Nov 17 2009

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) issued the following statement regarding news reports that brand-name drug makers have rapidly increased prescription drug prices in anticipation of enactment of health care reform legislation:

“Today’s New York Times’ article exposes the short-comings of the ‘pharma deal’ and how it gives with one hand while taking with the other. Rather than relying on ‘shell games’ to lower prescription drug costs, policymakers should return this debate to the need for more competition in the form of real biogenerics reform.

“Increased choice and competition generated by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) has been pivotal in driving prescription-drug trend to historic lows, while expanding consumers’ access to drug and pharmacy choices. Since 1999, the projected rate of growth in prescription drug spending has declined by an estimated 78 percent, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). A central ingredient to this historic reduction in trend has been the expanded use and availability of generic drugs.

“Based on this experience, meaningful legislation creating a workable biogeneric pathway is essential to reining in the skyrocketing cost of biotech medicines. President Obama has put forward a sensible biogenerics proposal that would save consumers, employers, public programs, and taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars in drug costs by subjecting biologic drugs to the same kind of generic competition that every other drug faces. Unfortunately, Congress recently moved in the opposite direction by advancing legislation that doubles the number of years that drug makers would enjoy unfettered, monopoly pricing for biologics.

“Americans deserve better. This anti-competitive approach does nothing to lower costs and prevents new drug choices benefiting consumers and payers from coming to market.”

http://www.pcmanet.org/