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ICYMI: PBM legislation was reintroduced in the Senate. We have details, plus more on the biotech market outlook, the importance of Accelerated Approval, and what a new shrimp vaccine tells us about innate immunity. (718 words, 3 minutes, 35 seconds)
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PBM legislation reintroduced in Senate |
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Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IW) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) reintroduced legislation to check practices by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) that artificially inflate the price of drugs.
Why it matters: PBMs act as middlemen, using their market power to drive up the prices of prescription drugs with opaque practices.
The Prescription Pricing for the People Act would require the “Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to complete a 6(b) study examining the effects of consolidation on pricing in the PBM industry, as well as other potentially abusive behavior by PBMs,” per Sen. Grassley’s office.
The PBM Transparency Act “bans deceptive and unfair pricing schemes, prohibits arbitrary claw backs of payments made to pharmacies, and requires PBMs to report to the FTC on how much money they make through spread pricing and pharmacy fees.”
BIO’s view: BIO has expressed support for earlier versions of both the Transparency Act and the Prescription Pricing for the People Act.
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BIO CEO 2025: M&A comeback may face political headwinds |
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The slow-paced biotech M&A market has been improving since late last year, but faces headwinds due to political uncertainty, said panelists at the BIO CEO & Investor Conference in New York.
The panel: “Market Outlook: Dealmaking and M&A for 2025,” held Feb. 11.
The key takeaway: M&A activity started slowly in 2024 but eventually picked up by year's end, though aggressive drug price controls, and rising interest rates could dampen the M&A comeback. Small firms seeking a buyout need at least 18 months of operating capital, which means they should limit their pipeline.
What to watch: Large pharma companies have more than $1 trillion to deploy on M&A and are seeking big revenue from blockbusters in obesity and other large markets with unmet needs. On the cost side, we need greater efficiency, and AI can help.
What they’re saying: “If it is taking us a lot longer and is much more expensive to bring a drug through R&D, we need to evaluate how we are doing drug discovery development. It just hasn’t been as productive as it was, historically,” said panelist Andrew Lam of Ally Bridge Group.
Read more on Bio.News.
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What Else to Read This Week |
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Accelerated approval can speed new treatments to people who need them, but insurance coverage must improve, explained participants in a BIO Patient Advocacy Coffee Chat. Accelerated approval “translates to getting treatments to patients on average 3.2 years faster, which is huge for patients and families that are waiting for therapies. But we’ve seen a variety of coverage and reimbursement challenges,” says Karin Hoelzer, DVM, Ph.D., BIO’s Senior Director of Patient Advocacy. Patient advocates weighed in on the impact—read more on Bio.News.
“Biotechnology accelerates what would take nature 300 years to do,”said Sylvia Wulf, BIO’s Interim Head of Agriculture and Environment, speaking at the recent Farm Bureau Convention. “Given the challenges that we face right now—whether it is extreme weather events, different pests, weeds, disease—we’ve got to come up with those solutions a whole lot faster. And that’s where biotechnology can help.” BIO and the Farm Bureau share a number of policy priorities—read more on Bio.News.
New shrimp vaccine validates groundbreaking platform to harness innate immunity. “Traditionally considered a non-specific defense mechanism, innate immunity can now be systematically trained to provide broad-spectrum, long-term protection against deadly pathogens. This discovery has the potential to revolutionize animal health, food security, and future human health applications,” Dalan Animal Health announced last week. The breakthrough first used in a honeybee vaccine is now being used in a shrimp vaccine that addresses diseases such as White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) and Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS)—"two of the shrimp industry's most pressing threats.”
BIO President & CEO John F. Crowley will speak tomorrow at the SCbio Annual Conference. Crowley will speak on the topic, “Why We Do What We Do.”
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