Biotech leaders assail CBO estimate

A CBO report dramatically underestimates the impacts of proposed Medicare drug price regulation legislation on new drug development because it ignores effects on investors, according to biotech industry leaders.

The proposed legislation would mandate price reductions on Medicare’s highest-cost single-source small molecule drugs starting nine years after approval. It would impose similar price regulations on biologics starting 13 years after approval, with the exception of those that are highly likely to face biosimilar competition within two years. Drugs that are only marketed for orphan conditions, regardless of modality, would also be exempt. ...