SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Biocom, the association representing the California life science industry, issued the following statement regarding the drug pricing portion in the “Build Back Better” legislation. The statement can be attributed to Joe Panetta, Biocom California’s president and CEO:

“On behalf of our more than 1,500 members across California, I am deeply concerned that the U.S. House of Representatives has decided to move forward with a drug pricing and access proposal that endorses price setting, undermines intellectual property protections, and would place an unfair burden on innovative life science companies, despite repeated warnings by the biomedical research community that such policies would hurt innovation and reduce patients’ access to life-saving products.

“The United States produces more new medicines than the rest of the world combined, and our industry relies heavily on strong intellectual property rights and significant investments in research and development to bring new products to market. California is the global leader in biomedical innovation and a vital contributor to the state’s economy, generating over $400 billion in annual economic activity and supporting almost 1.4 million jobs. As such, California companies will be disproportionally harmed.

“The proposal put forward this week ignores reports, including by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), that price setting mechanisms reduce the number of drugs ultimately available to patients. The measure also discourages further innovation for pediatric populations and new indications. Lastly, while it establishes a long overdue $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket patient spending which we support, direct benefits to patients will be limited and outweighed by the harmful impact the bill will have on the development of innovative medicines.

“While we are deeply disappointed in the current legislative proposal, we want to recognize the tremendous efforts made by moderate Democrats with deep technical knowledge of our biomedical innovation ecosystem to abandon more detrimental proposals that would have allowed the importation of foreign price controls and more severely harmed small and emerging companies. In particular, we want to thank Congressman Scott Peters of San Diego and his like-minded colleagues for allowing a much-needed conversation around what it takes to bring products to market and the need to ensure the development of future treatments and cures.

“We believe that all patients should be able to access the medications they need and strongly support reducing out-of-pocket costs. As we have expressed before, we stand ready to work with Congress and the Biden Administration to enact reasonable and bi-partisan proposals that will make a true difference in what patients pay at the pharmacy counter. We will not succeed if we do not bring to the table all the stakeholders that determine health care costs.”

About Biocom California

Biocom California is the leader and advocate for California’s life science sector. We work on behalf of more than 1,500 members to drive public policy, build an enviable network of industry leaders, create access to capital, introduce cutting-edge STEM education programs and create robust value-driven purchasing programs.

Founded in 1995 in San Diego, Biocom California provides the strongest public voice to research institutions and companies that fuel the local and state-wide economy. Our goal is simple: to help our members produce novel solutions that improve the human condition. In addition to our San Diego headquarters, Biocom California operates core offices in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, satellite offices in Washington, D.C. and Tokyo, and has a continuous staff presence in Sacramento. Our broad membership benefits apply to biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, genomics and diagnostics companies of all sizes, as well as to research universities and institutes, clinical research organizations, investors and service providers.

For more information on Biocom California, please visit our website at www.biocom.org. Connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter (@BIOCOMCA).

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