The pharmaceutical industry lobbying group PHARMA is threatening to pull its support for the health care reform legislation because of a change in the health care bill.
The drug industry is threatening to end its support for President Barack Obama’s health overhaul effort because of a rift with the administration over protecting brand-name biotech drugs from low-cost generic competitors.
In an e-mail obtained Friday by The Associated Press, the president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America told the trade group’s board members that “we could not support the bill” if the industry is given less than 12 years of competitive protection for the expensive products.
Obama and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., are leading the drive to shorten that period, which proponents argue would be a boon to consumers.
So, what are they upset about?
Both the House and Senate bills would for the first time create rules by which so-called biologic drugs, which are made in living cells, would be subject to copycat competition, saving the health care system billions of dollars over 10 years.
The drugs, which include big sellers like the cancer drug Avastin and the arthritis drug Enbrel, can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year. Biologics are not governed by the Hatch-Waxman Act, which covers generic competition for more conventional drugs made from chemicals, like Prozac or Lipitor. After the patent on a biologic drug expires, competitors may produce similar products, but they are treated by the health care system as if they were entirely new drugs, not substitutes like generics.
To retain incentives for innovation, both the House and Senate bills would provide a brand-name biologic drug with 12 years of protection from competition, even if the drug’s patents expire before that.
Until now it looked like the matter was settled because the 12-year period got wide bipartisan support in both chambers. And with Congress having much more prominent issues to grapple with, there seemed little chance this issue would be reopened.
That has changed. Mr. Obama apparently met with Congressional leaders and specified a shorter exclusivity period as one of the changes he wanted in the legislation, according to James Greenwood, the president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the biotech trade group, which favors the 12-year period.
So, they’re upset that they don’t get special protected status like no other pharmaceuticals get for 12 years?
I sure am glad that Tom Carper stood up for protecting the deal with Big Pharma in the summer:
Carper fought to prevent Medicaid and Medicare from negotiating drug prices (one of the big disappointments of Medicare Part D) and also fought drug reimportation.