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A busy Thursday on Capitol Hill brought lots of talk about PBMs—we have a recap, plus a look at why we need to invest more in women’s health and R&D. (509 words, 3 minutes, 32 seconds) |
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Senate talks PBM reform, price controls |
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Senate Finance Committee leaders yesterday held a press conference promoting bipartisan legislation to prevent pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) abuses, then questioned Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Xavier Becerra about PBMs and the 2025 budget.
Why it matters: PBMs force patients to pay more for drugs while harming independent pharmacies—with 300 closing last year, said Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Michael Crapo (R-ID) in a press conference and letter addressed to the Finance Committee yesterday.
During the HHS budget hearing, Sen. Crapo said Biden’s proposed budget neglects congressional efforts to save federal funds by stopping PBMs from abusing their market power to profit through price hikes.
Price controls harm innovation: Noting the budget proposal doubles down on Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) price controls, Sen. Crapo said this approach is already slowing drug research and stopping clinical trials.
Price controls mean “less money to spend on R&D,” agreed Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC). “There’s a direct correlation to IRA price controls and a big dip in small molecule research,” he said.
House action on PBMs: Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) are leading House members on a letter to Speaker Johnson and Democratic Leader Jeffries urging immediate action on bipartisan PBM reforms; it’s expected next week. Rep. James Comer (R-KY) also promoted PBM reform last week.
What’s next: Congress still has time to pass PBM reform legislation, and BIO supports these efforts. Watch BIO’s Policy Pulse for more highlights: |
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1% of VC for half the population? |
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While women comprise more than half the population, women’s health accounts for “less than 1% of all VC investment in U.S. biopharma,” said Sheila Mikhail, co-chair of BIO’s Women’s Health Initiative Task Force, at the National Academies’ Assessment of NIH Research on Women’s Health last week.
Why it matters: Gaps in investment lead to gaps in knowledge of women’s health issues “and the impact on women’s health is real,” Mikhail said.
The impact: Calling herself “a poster child of the deficiencies in women’s healthcare,” Mikhail said she is a lupus patient, had endometriosis, and her breast cancer was missed due to the limits of screening technology.
What BIO’s doing: BIO launched its task force and works on initiatives like the Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map (WHOM), in collaboration with NIH and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Room to grow: The WHOM initiative, built with input from over 250 experts in more than 50 countries, highlights under-researched aspects of women’s health that offer big potential for research and development of treatments.
BIO’s view: “It is paramount to ensure that foundational research incorporates considerations of the effects of sex and gender on health and disease, and that publicly funded research explores the diseases affecting women. When a woman gets sick, the impact is felt beyond her to include her family, her community, and her workplace. This research is not only essential for the health of women, but also for the health of the economy,” Mikhail said.
Learn more on the I am BIO podcast, "Let's Get Uncomfortable: Talking About Women's Health" |
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President Biden’s Friday: Meeting with the Irish leader Taoiseach Leo Varadkar; discussion will focus on Northern Ireland, Ukraine, and a ceasefire in Gaza, per the BBC. What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Recess. |
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