AAM displeased with Medicare Drug Price Negotiation list
The Association for Accessible Medicines commented on the recent release of 15 medications added to the list for Medicare drug price negotiations.
“By including drugs with generics and biosimilars in development in the 15 drugs selected for negotiation, CMS highlights a central flaw in the IRA price setting scheme,” said John Murphy III, president and CEO of AAM.
Murphy added, “Rather than build on the proven success of reducing prices through generic and biosimilar competition, the IRA creates a short-sighted government price setting scheme that undermines investment in lower priced generics and biosimilars. It is critical that the incoming Administration work with Congress to put America’s patients first by supporting generic and biosimilar development and competition.”
[Read more: Challenges continue, but generics companies see a bright future with biosimilars]
AAM noted that many, if not all, of the selected drugs have generic or biosimilar equivalent medications in development.
“Although policymakers claimed that Medicare price setting would only apply if a generic or biosimilar had not launched, this hid the fact that the legislation is designed so that the price control scheme applies before a generic or biosimilar would have the chance to be approved and marketed, thus undermining future investments and competition. Because generic and biosimilar medicines provide greater savings than Medicare price setting, the price control scheme will result in less and slower generic and biosimilar competition and, thus, lost savings for America’s patients,” AAM said.
[Read more: AAM report: Generics, biosimilars generate $445B in savings]