We hosted a conference call with Andy Bressler (Washington D.C. Policy Analyst) to discuss the recent headlines regarding drug pricing.
Key takeaways from the call are: Focus on drug pricing issues seems more of election rhetoric Andy feels that Hillary Clinton’s proposals to address rising drug costs will remain on the policy agenda at least through the upcoming November 2016 presidential elections. Recent polls suggest drug pricing issues are the top healthcare concern for voters, cutting across both Democrats and Republicans. Andy believes there is voter support for a range of policy options to address this complex issue. *HHS officials exploring “Value Based Drug Pricing” Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials are exploring efforts to develop ‘Value Based Drug Pricing’ under Medicare as it will help the administrator to bring down overall healthcare cost. HHS is also interested in transparency efforts that would require disclosure of drug pricing, as well as R&D spending by drug companies. Obama Administration negotiating on Biologics exclusivity As a part of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, the US government has been negotiating with other countries in the TPP to have 12 years of exclusivity period for biologics; however, other countries, particularly Australia, were not willing to agree to the 12-year duration. * The US currently has 12 years of data exclusivity for biologics before a biosimilar can come to the market, while other TPP countries have much lower exclusivity periods, including Australia at 5 years, and Japan 8 years. Quicker approval of generic drugs would bring down prices Andy feels that this is a not a controversial proposal, given the support it has from both parties. He feels that by having faster approvals of drugs by FDA, one can promote competition and hence c Proposal more of a headline risk… hard to implement Andy feels most of the proposals announced to curb drug spending in the US are hard to implement as most issues have been discussed in the past among Democrats, but have gained little traction in Congress. He believes that given Republicans are in control of both the House and Senate, there is a little support in Congress for moving on these issues. Further, he highlighted that even if Hillary Clinton were to win the nomination and the White House in 2016, Republicans would likely maintain a majority in the House of Representatives, while Senate control would remain a tossup in 2016. He views these claims, like previous ones, as mere headline risks that would be difficult to pass through Congress and even more challenging to execute. Mixed response from industry participants Both Pharma industry and managed care industry had a mixed response on the Hillary Clinton proposals. AHIP (managed care industry lobby) suggested that it supports some of the ideas offered, but, would oppose direct price negotiations and “arbitrary caps on insurance coverage”. Similarly, The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association stated that these proposals would limit patients’ access to drugs, as well as result in reduced innovation, and fewer new drugs. -- Kindly email stock reports at STOCKRESEARCHER@googlegroups.com For sharing knowledge -- NIFTYVIEWS.COM NOW A FREE OPEN SOURCE WEBSITE. http://www.niftyviews.com/ Disclaimer :- "The opinions expressed by the members on this board are based on their individual experience and perceptions and to share information with other members with the best of intentions to help fellow members in investment decisions as equity investment is a risky venture.The administrator of www.Niftyviews.com just provide a platform for the authors to express their opinion and take no guarantee for the genuineness of the same."ANY member of this forum doesnt prepare or publish any research report; or ii. provide research report; or iii. make 'buy/sell/hold' recommendation; or iv. give price target; --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Niftyviews.com" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to stockresearcher+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
