BIO Releases Statement on NGA’s Report on Prescription Drug Costs

Washington, DC (August 10, 2018) – Tom Dilenge, president of advocacy, law & public policy at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), issued the following statement today after the National Governors Association (NGA) released a report outlining “potential state strategies” to address prescription drug costs:

“Our governors are to be commended for looking for ways to rein in the rising cost of health care. The report rightly recognizes the tremendous benefits of biomedical innovation and the need to expand access to innovative treatments and cures. The biopharmaceutical industry is committed to unleashing the power of innovation to address the most devastating and costly diseases, like cancer and Alzheimer’s, and public health crises like opioid addiction.

“However, the report's myopic focus on the cost of new medicines ignores the real drivers of health care spending, and some of its policy ideas would be counter-productive to the shared goal of reducing health care costs. The report also gives scant attention to reforms that would target middlemen in the system who profit enormously from the sale of prescription medicines and often at the expense of taxpayers and patients.

“The biotech community is eager to work on solutions that expand access to affordable medicines. While some of the ideas contained in this report would be harmful to patients and future innovation, there are areas that provide hope for common ground, such as pursuing innovative payment models and expanding the use of value-based pricing. As we have seen with the remarkable cures for hepatitis C, competition in the marketplace fosters innovation and lowers costs for patients and taxpayers. We look forward to continuing our work with policymakers at the state and federal levels to continue to make these shared goals a reality.”