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US Price Negotiation Hearing Lays The Groundwork For Future Improvements

 
• By Cole Werble

The pharma industry is hoping that litigation might end Medicare price negotiation before it begins. But a House hearing also starts the process of developing legislative improvements that might be viable in years to come – starting with trying to restore the lifespan of small molecules.

Capitol with medicine icons
• Source: Shutterstock

A proposal to equalize the commercial lifespan of small molecules and biologics at 13 years before becoming subject to Medicare price negotiation received the most attention among industry-suggested fixes to the Inflation Reduction Act price reform law during a House Energy & Commerce Oversight hearing last month.

Key Takeaways

  • The September hearing marks the formal beginning of the legislative effort to reform or repeal the Medicare price setting program.

  • Efforts could pick up steam if Republican win unified control of the federal government in the next election.

  • Industry’s focus on the “small-molecule penalty” offers an easy to understand, patient-focused message

The IRA sets a shorter timeline (nine years) before small molecules are subject to price cuts under the law – and considerable attention has been devoted to the implications that has on steering drug development even more heavily into injectable biologics rather than oral small molecules

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