BIO Statement on American College of Physicians’ Prescription Drug Plan

Washington, D.C. (March 30, 2016) – Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood issued the following statement today regarding the American College of Physicians’ policy paper on prescription drugs:

“Many of the proposals released by the American College of Physicians would significantly hinder the ability of emerging biotechnology companies to develop the new cures and therapies that patients need to live longer, more productive lives. Several provisions of this plan, including the reimportation of prescription drugs from other countries and allowing HHS to negotiate prices in Medicare Part D, have been proposed many times in the past, and have always been rebuffed on a bipartisan basis because of the widely recognized fact that they are simply bad ideas for patients, or would produce scant savings. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that allowing HHS to negotiate prices for drug covered under Medicare Part D, as recommended by the ACP, would produce a “negligible effect.” On reimportation, the College itself acknowledge the “various safety concerns” posed by the proposal.

“However, we share the College’s concern with the rising use of specialty tier cost-sharing, in which patients must pay a relatively high percentage of their drug costs rather than a flat co-payment. The College rightly calls upon payers to ensure that patient cost sharing for specialty drugs do not create a “substantial economic barrier” to patients obtaining needed medicines.

“We hope that the College will focus its efforts on reducing burdensome cost-sharing requirements and identifying policies that comprehensively capture the value of innovative therapies to patients, the healthcare system, and society as a whole, rather than recycling old ideas that would impede the development of promising new therapies, while doing little to improve access to and affordability of prescription drugs.”

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About BIO
BIO is the world's largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world. BIOtechNOW is BIO's blog chronicling “innovations transforming our world” and the BIO Newsletter is the organization’s bi-weekly email newsletter. Subscribe to the BIO Newsletter.