The White House ’ s Latest Move to Rein in Drug Prices

Each year, the U.S. government spends over $100 billion investing in the research and development of new technologies, with pharmaceutical companies being among the chief beneficiaries of this research. These public-private partnerships have led to some of the most important pharmaceutical developments of our time, including the COVID-19 vaccine.  But with that partnership, however, there comes a catch. According to the Bayh–Dole Act, if a business organization takes funding from the federal government in order to develop a new product, the U.S. government has the right to “march in” and control who licenses the product. In the case of pharmaceutical companies, this means that the government can give the license to manufacture a patent-protected drug to a generic company, significantly bringing down the price of the drug.  [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] To date, the government has never used its “march-in” rights. But on Thursday, Dec. 7, the Biden administration announced that it would introduce a new framework for evaluating when governments can execute “march-in,” rights. “President Biden believes that health care should be a right, not a privilege,” the White House wrote in their announcement. “Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new actions to promote competition in health care and support lowering prescription drug costs for American families, including the re...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Joe Biden Source Type: news