“Two new COVID-19 pills are coming soon, and are expected to work against all versions of the virus,” reports The New York Times. But will proposed drug price controls thwart future biomedical breakthroughs like these?
One pill is developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics,a small, entrepreneurial biotech company. The pill “reduces the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19 by 30% if taken within five days of the onset of symptoms.” The FDA is expected to authorize it soon.
The other pill is developed by Pfizer. Early studies show it could reduce hospitalization and death by a whopping 89% if taken within three days of onset of symptoms, and it could be authorized by the end of the year.
Everyone still needs to get vaccinated, but antivirals could help fight the pandemic—especially if we need a “stopgap” while vaccines are reformulated to address variants, University of Pennsylvania virologist Dr. Sara Cherry told the New York Times.
But there’s an imminent threat to future breakthroughs like these: drug price controls.As passed by the House before Thanksgiving, the Build Back Better Act allows the government to fix the prices of future drugs; it’s under consideration by the Senate right now.
Similar price controls in Europe led to a decline in biopharma industry investment, including a 7% decrease in biotech patents, a 9% decrease in biotech startup funding, and an 8% increase in the delay in access to medicines, found a recent VitalTransformation study.
The price-setting proposal “threatens the innovation ecosystem we have today,”writes BIO Chairman Paul Hastings, CEO of Nkarta Therapeutics—making it “all but impossible for companies to raise funds for high-risk ventures—like vaccines for pandemics or cures for diabetes and cancer.”
Tell your Senator why drug price controls will harm future cures.
