BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics, Policy & Law

DNA says lawmaker was premature

July 2, 2001 7:00 AM UTC

When Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) released proposed Medicare prescription drug benefit legislation last week, he told reporters that it was supported by Genentech Inc. (DNA), the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, and other groups. The biotech company and the generic drug manufacturers are odd bedfellows, even by Washington standards. More important, DNA's endorsement of the bill would be a feather in Graham's hat because biotech and pharmaceutical companies and their trade associations have not officially endorsed any of the competing Medicare prescription drug plans.

It seems, however, that Graham exaggerated DNA's ardor. The company has worked with the Florida senator but it "is not backing the Graham bill," said Walter Moore, vice president of government affairs at DNA (South San Francisco, Calif.)...