Biden’s budget pushes more price controls

Today we tell you what we know about President Biden’s budget (no surprises so far) and unveil the latest episode of the I am BIO Podcast, which unpacks the microbiome hype. (625 words, 3 minutes, 7 seconds)

Biden’s budget pushes more price controls

President Biden unveiled a $7.3 trillion budget proposal yesterday that the White House said would include efforts to save money with more drug price controls.

Why it matters: The budget is not expected to pass Congress in its current form but indicates Biden’s priorities. A campaign official said last week that attacks on “big pharma” and drug price controls will be a key component of the reelection campaign.

No surprises: BIO is still unpacking the details, but key components reflect the priorities Biden shared in Thursday’s State of the Union address. As BIO explained Friday, specific implications for biotech include:

• Capping patients’ out-of-pocket medicine costs. Reforms that limit seniors’ out-of-pocket costs to $2,000 and insulin copays to $35 a month “should serve as the basis for future, bipartisan reforms.”
• Giving pharmacy benefit managers a free pass. While a White House “listening session” highlighted how PBMs profit from driving up drug prices, it appears the administration is unwilling to take meaningful action.
• Ignoring fatal flaws in drug price controls, including disincentives for developing small molecule pills or orphan drugs.
• Doubling down on government price controls, which already inhibit innovation and reduce investment for research to bring new treatments to patients.

BIO’s view: “With bipartisan consensus growing on Capitol Hill around the need to address concerns with government price setting and tackle the real drivers of high patient out-of-pocket costs for drugs prescribed by their doctors, we remain hopeful Congress will pass reforms that serve the best interests of America’s biotech researchers and patients,” says BIO.

I am BIO Podcast goes beyond the microbiome hype

While our microbiome has inspired much consumer hype, serious study is yielding new drugs and offering the promise of more treatments, explores today’s new episode of the I am BIO Podcast.

What are microbiomes, anyway? “Collections of microorganisms that interact and live pretty much everywhere,” Spencer Diamond of UC Berkeley’s Innovative Genomics Institute tells the podcast. The human microbiome is essential to our health and immune system.

A big question: Whether differences in microbiomes drive health problems or are the result of health problems.

A possible answer: With CRISPR, Diamond’s team can target specific parts of the microbiome to understand what happens when they are missing or altered, which could yield new medicines.

From diet fad to treatment: The meat-heavy ketogenic diet is inspired by older techniques to control epilepsy with a gut microbiome reset. By reverse engineering the diet, Bloom Science is seeking an epilepsy treatment, says CEO Christopher Reyes.

Addressing AMR: The drug-resistant superbug Clostridium difficile can attack microbiomes whose bacteria have been killed wholesale by antibiotics, explains Eric Shaff, President and CEO of Seres Therapeutics, which developed an FDA-approved microbiota product to battle C.diff by boosting good bacteria instead of killing them.

Why it matters: “Deep understanding of microbial communities and their interactions will advance science and create a better future for patients. As research advances and technologies evolve, the microbiome is poised to become a cornerstone of future breakthroughs,” explains podcast host Theresa Brady.

Listen: Catch the new episode at www.bio.org/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

More Health News: 

The New York Times: Wegovy moves beyond weight loss
“Wegovy, the blockbuster weight loss drug, is now approved for a new use: reducing the risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular-related death in adults who have heart disease and are overweight or have obesity. The new indication, which the Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday, will pave the way for even more patients to use the sought-after medication and could potentially broaden insurance coverage.” 

President Biden’s Tuesday: After a campaign meeting at the Teamsters Headquarters in Washington, meeting the president and prime minister of Poland at the White House. 

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: The House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee will hold a markup of 19 bills at 10AM.