CSRxP: SENATE HELP COMMITTEE CAN BUILD ON BIPARTISAN MOMENTUM TO BOOST COMPETITION AND LOWER DRUG PRICES

Lawmakers Have Opportunity to Build On Recent Positive Work to Lower Drug Prices By Advancing Expedited Access to Biosimilars Act

Washington, D.C. – The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) released the following statement ahead of a markup on Wednesday in the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). The Committee is expected to consider theExpedited Access to Biosimilars Act (S.1414).

“Big Pharma’s egregious anti-competitive practices and unnecessary regulatory burdens combine to delay more affordable biosimilar alternatives to high-priced brand name biologics from reaching American consumers and lowering prescription drug prices,” said CSRxP executive director Lauren Aronson. “Members of the HELP Committee can build on their recent positive work, and growing bipartisan momentum, to foster greater competition in the prescription drug market to lower drug prices by advancing the Expedited Access to Biosimilars Act.”

• The Expedited Access to Biosimilars Act (S.1414) would eliminate costly, duplicative clinical testing requirements and modernize the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) review process to reduce unnecessary delays, foster greater biosimilar competition and bring more affordable alternatives to high-priced brand name biologic drugs to market faster.

The advancement of this legislation would build on the positive bipartisan work of the HELP Committee to lower prescription drug prices through greater competition. In a June 17 markup, the committee advanced:

• The Biosimilar Red Tape Elimination Act (S. 1954), which would eliminate outdated U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements and modernize the drug approval process to expedite biosimilar substitution and increase competition from more affordable alternatives to high-priced brand name products.

• The Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act (S. 2658), which would strengthen coordination between the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and FDA by requiring more consistent information across agencies, helping improve patent quality, reduce Big Pharma abuse of the patent system and prevent costly delays in the availability of more affordable generics.

Read what members of both parties had to say during the June HELP markup on solutions to foster greater competition and lower drug prices HERE.

Read CSRxP’s statement commending members of the HELP Committee for advancing those first two bipartisan solutions in the June markup HERE.

Read more on how Big Pharma games the system to block competition and keep drug prices high HERE.

Read more about how generic and biosimilar competition lower out-of-pocket costs for patients HERE.

Read more on bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.