BIO Statement On Selected Drugs in Medicare under Inflation Reduction Act

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) released the following statement after today’s announcement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on selected drugs under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA):

“While the Inflation Reduction Act puts a cap on senior’s out-of-pocket costs, it also contained some very damaging parts that will impede the development of newer and better medicines for all. Important aspects of the IRA are also damaging to the critical role of the United States and our allies to remain the centers of excellence in biotechnology worldwide. With today’s announcement, we see the start of unilateral government mandated price controls. This will inevitably lead the U.S. on a path to higher costs for patients and less access to innovative medicines.  

“The lack of transparency and a scientific approach to decision-making throughout this process undermines the value that these medicines bring to patients in the U.S and around the globe. We are also just beginning to see the harm to patients caused by the unintended consequences of penalizing medicines made as pills. The IRA also includes a damaging provision that will curtail the development of medicines for multiple rare genetic diseases.

“At the same time, Congress and the administration must turn their full attention to health insurers and middlemen who profit by denying Medicare patients and others access to the medicines that their doctors prescribe. This is the source of high costs at the pharmacy and the denial of access to lifesaving treatments and cures. Delay and denial from health insurance companies equals suffering and death. This must be addressed, as well as correcting the most egregious parts of the IRA.”