WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 9, 2021) — Today, AAM released the following statement in response to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra’s recommendations to address the high cost of prescription drugs. HHS’s 45-day plan was developed in response to President Biden’s market competition executive order.
“Competition from generic and biosimilar medicines is a proven solution to increasing access and affordability for America’s patients. AAM and its members applaud HHS for recognizing how brand-name prescription drugs are increasing costs and for identifying certain barriers that are delaying timely patient access to more affordable drugs.
“As the HHS plan recommends, congressional action is needed to modernize the Medicare Part D benefit to incentivize drugs that offer the most value at the lowest cost and to increase Medicare Part B reimbursement for biosimilars. We also appreciate the Administration’s consideration of a CMMI shared savings demo for biosimilars, commitment to ensuring the ‘skinny label’ pathway remains available, and continued efforts by FDA to facilitate generic and biosimilar approvals.
“As the Biden administration and Congress evaluate next steps, it is critically important to preserve the tools currently available to generic and biosimilar developers that accelerate competition and patient access to lower-cost medicines. Congressional proposals to weaken the 180-day incentive for first generics and curtail patent settlement agreements are misguided and would run counter to efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
“We look forward to continuing to work with HHS and Congress to advance prescription drug policies that meaningfully reduce the cost of prescription drugs for America’s patients.”
Attribution: Dan Leonard, President and CEO, AAM
MEDIA CONTACT:
Rachel Schwartz
202.249.7147
About AAM
AAM is driven by the belief that access to safe, quality, effective medicine has a tremendous impact on a person’s life and the world around them. Generic and biosimilar medicines improve people’s lives, improving society and the economy in turn. AAM represents the manufacturers and distributors of finished generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars, manufacturers and distributors of bulk pharmaceutical chemicals, and suppliers of other goods and services to the generic industry. Generic pharmaceuticals are 90 percent of prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. but only 20 percent of total drug spending.
About the Biosimilars Council
The Biosimilars Council, a division of the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM), works to ensure a positive environment for patient access to biosimilar medicines. The Biosimilars Council is a leading source for information about the safety and efficacy of more affordable alternatives to costly brand biologic medicines. Areas of focus include public and health expert education, strategic partnerships, government affairs, legal affairs and regulatory policy. More information is available at www.biosimilarscouncil.org.