Haven’t had enough yet? We’ve got more [OPTIONAL] readings for you!
The Book:
**The Great American Drug Deal** - Peter Kolchinsky
RA Capital’s Managing Partner delves into the complex relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and American society. He explores the biotech social contract and argues that the current system is failing to deliver both affordable drugs and innovation. The book offers solutions to address the rising drug costs while maintaining a thriving pharmaceutical sector.
Articles on Pre-generic Price Controls:
Economist Craig Carthwaite argues price control savings will be eclipsed by decline in innovation:
Ted Love’s op-ed in STAT about how his company’s sickle cell treatment wouldn’t have been developed under the IRA:
https://www.statnews.com/2023/07/31/global-blood-therapeutics-oxbryta-pfizer-ira-small-molecules/
Reuters piece about Roche cutting programs that would be impacted by IRA in the future:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-roche-abandoned-trials-due-071720141.html
Novartis CEO warns IRA may cause “risks to public health”:
https://www.ft.com/content/46584130-85df-4e63-b197-3ea26bab6809
Investors explain how price controls curtail new innovations/indications for existing drugs, and how much we learn in between when a drug is approved and when it goes off patent:
https://rapport.bio/all-stories/post-launch-pre-cliff-rd-congress-ignores
Articles on International Reference Pricing:
Economists write that basing US prices on what others pay could limit access to promising cell and gene therapies, negatively impact innovation and harm population health: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10373031
Adoption of international reference pricing would do more harm than good:
Articles on Importing drugs from Canada or elsewhere:
Canada’s not happy about it:
Safety and ethical concerns around drug importation and cost-savings not as much as advertised:
The nuts and bolts of why this just won’t work: Manufacturers will limit supplies to Canada to the levels that were sold before U.S. Re-importation began. Canada will limit its supply of drugs to Canadians. Thus, getting prescription drugs from Canada is a non-starter:
Articles on March-in Rights:
About the Bayh-Dole Act, a law that impacts the development of new drugs. The author argues that a proposed rule change could discourage investment in new drugs.
The article discusses a push for federal march-in rights for drugs, where the government could intervene to lower drug prices when federally funded research contributes to drug development. This policy is aimed at ensuring affordable access to medications.
https://www.pharmavoice.com/news/federal-march-in-rights-for-drugs-Andrei-Iancu/710296/