BIO Statement on HHS Forum on Pharmaceutical Innovation, Access, Affordability and Better Health

Washington, D.C. (November 20, 2015) – The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) released the following statement regarding today’s U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Forum on Pharmaceutical Innovation, Access, Affordability and Better Health:

“Ensuring that patients have access to the treatments and therapies they need is one of the most important issues we face today.  At BIO, we welcome the opportunity to have a robust dialogue with all of the stakeholders in the health care system about what is needed to make sure that patients have access to our innovations and how we can speed the development of the next generation of cures and therapies, so that more patients can benefit from these breakthroughs. 

“We appreciate HHS providing a venue for this discussion and look forward to continuing to work closely with patient groups and other stakeholders to come up with meaningful patient-centered solutions to the challenges of access and affordability. As the panel on Patient Access and Affordability showed, this issue is much more complicated than the cost of a single drug and must focus on plan design by insurance companies. We look forward to working closely with HHS officials and other stakeholders to conduct a deeper examination of how insurance industry practices (e.g., out-of-pocket fees, high deductibles, changing formularies, the use of specialty tiers, industry consolidation) impact patient access and affordability and to look at ways to improve plan design for patients with chronic conditions. Another important issue that was raised was about spending in other areas of the health care system, including hospitals and doctor visits. New research shows that these areas are out-pacing medical inflation. Innovation in biopharmaceuticals can help address this and it should be a part of the conversation about managing overall health care costs. 

“Unfortunately, a few of the participants representing the insurance industry used today’s forum as an opportunity to rehash tired, old talking points and engage in obfuscation, rather than to have a constructive dialogue about how we can work together to improve the lives of patients.  We need to get past this type of rhetoric and focus on the challenges and opportunities we have to use advances in science to better serve patients. This is an important conversation and we need all stakeholders engaged in it.

“America is the global leader in biotechnology innovation and investment, and today 70 percent of the biopharmaceutical industry’s clinical pipeline is attributed to small companies. The research and breakthroughs coming from these entrepreneurs will revolutionize the way we treat patients for a wide array of diseases. Making sure that patients and our loved ones have access to these innovations is the top priority of our industry and why we look forward to continuing this discussion.”

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