Good Day BIO: Senate talks vaccine hesitancy, biofuels, and more

A busy day in the Senate yesterday, as Sen. Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) released some ideas about drug pricing and Senate HELP discussed vaccine hesitancy and IP protections. 

First, drug pricing: Sen. Wyden released a three-page paper, Principles for Drug Pricing Reform, which says “making prescription drugs more affordable while encouraging innovation and scientific breakthroughs are not mutually exclusive.”

While the plan offers few specifics, it lays out five principles to guide potential legislation, which you can read here.

Jeanne’s Judgment: “BIO supports lowering out-of-pocket costs for patients and ensuring that all Americans have access to their prescriptions. That said, any policy that would stop innovation raises concerns, so we are reviewing Chairman Wyden’s principals and want to work productively with him.” – Jeanne Haggerty, BIO’s EVP for Advocacy

Meanwhile, during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing, there was bipartisan agreement on the need to tackle vaccine hesitancy. With 106 million Americans still unvaccinated, “we still have a ways to go to get all eligible people vaccinated and put this pandemic firmly behind us,” said Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-NC).

Identifying “vaccine ambassadors” and local leaders is key—to reach communities of color, white evangelicals, or parents, witnesses agreed. 

Listen: Voices of Vaccine Hesitancy 

In minority communities, addressing hesitancy requires “vaccine providers who look like, sound like, or have similar experiences and backgrounds to the vaccine recipients,” said Dr. Michelle Nichols of the Morehouse School of Medicine. 

Phyllis’s Philosophy: With hundreds of Americans still dying of COVID-19 each day, we must tackle vaccine hesitancy and get more shots in arms quickly. Just as we turned to science for answers about the pandemic, we encourage everyone to turn to science for answers to questions or concerns about the vaccines. Visit www.COVIDVaccineFacts.org for scientific and evidence-based information about the vaccines—and feel confident when you and your family get your shot. – Phyllis Arthur, BIO’s VP of Infectious Diseases & Emerging Science

Oh, yes. They also discussed IP protections. “Removing the intellectual property protections only ensures that we don’t have the vaccines we need when the next pandemic occurs,” said Sen. Burr in his opening remarks. (BIO agrees.)

More Health Care News:

The New York Times: With eight million shots in a day, India tries to energize its vaccination effort
“[O]fficials say that vaccine production and procurement are being accelerated to ensure that all of India’s roughly 950 million adults are fully vaccinated by the end of the year.” 

Yesterday’s Senate Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee hearing on renewable energy and rural economies highlighted the benefits of biofuels—and a few ways we can deploy them faster to benefit people and the planet.

“Biodiesel and ethanol are low-carbon fuels and they get greener every year and become a more economic and viable alternative to fossil fuels,” said Subcommittee Chair Sen. Tina Smith (D-MIN). 

“We need to continue supporting the R&D to develop biofuels, as well,” Sen. Smith continued, “for ships and airplanes and long-distance trucking—sectors that won’t likely be electrified any time soon.” 

One way to do this:a tax credit for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), which BIO supports. 

Another: a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS), said Sen. Smith. As BIO recently explained in comments to the USDA, “Any federal LCFS must be technology and feedstock neutral and build on the success of the RFS [Renewable Fuel Standard] to significantly reduce emissions in transport.” 

We also need better accounting of the “environmental benefits of biofuel,” added Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who highlighted a recent Harvard study that found that certain corn-based biofuels emit 46% fewer greenhouse gases than traditional fossil-based fuels. 

Specifically, the EPA’s modeling for GHG emissions for biofuels is out of date, said Sen. Klobuchar and others. She and Senator John Thune (R-SD) introduced bipartisan legislation designed to correct this problem. 

EPA doesn't have to wait for Congress. As BIO explained in its comments to USDA, EPA should update its modeling by adopting the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Lab Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies Model (GREET). The GREET model is updated annually to reflect the technological advances in biofuels and agriculture that make fuels more sustainable. 

The bottom line: To tackle the climate crisis, it is crucial to lead with science and U.S. innovation by incentivizing and streamlining, and expediting regulatory pathways for sustainable fuels to decarbonize the transportation sector. —read more.

More Agriculture and Environment News: 

Velocys: Velocys technology powers first commercial flight 
A June 17 Japan Airlines flight from Tokyo to Sapporo was powered by the company’s sustainable aviation fuel made using woody biomass residue feedstock.

Futurity: Team links fossil fuel to more than 1 million deaths in 2017
“PM2.5 is the world’s leading environmental risk factor for mortality,” said Randall Martin, professor in the energy, environmental, and chemical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. 

President Biden’s Wednesday: Attending the funeral of Sen. John Warner of Virginia, where he’ll give remarks. This afternoon, he’ll join Attorney General Merrick Garland in meeting with stakeholders to discuss how to keep cities and neighborhoods safe; they’ll give remarks on gun safety at 3:30 PM ET.  

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Of note today, House Judiciary is marking up antitrust legislation, with big tech CEOs (including Apple’s Tim Cook) lobbying hard against it.