Bipartisan approval for CREATES in House committee

Bipartisan agreement among members of a House committee suggests that non-controversial bills to promote generic competition are likely to be enacted this year. The Committee on Energy and Commerce, which passed five bills related to generic competition Wednesday including the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act, did not consider measures that would directly curb drug prices.

CREATES, which passed unanimously 51-0, is intended to ensure access to drug samples required for developing generic or biosimilar drugs. On the Senate side, CREATES is co-sponsored by Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Pharma lobbyists killed a version of the bill in the last session of Congress...