The advance toward new therapies for cancer, Alzheimer's, HIV and pain management is being slowed by dollars, not science, NIH Director Francis Collins told a House Appropriations subcommittee in his last budget hearing before the group. "We are not limited by ideas . . . We are not limited by talent . . . We are nowhere near where we wouldn't know what to do with [more resources]," he said. Collins opened his testimony with a "10 for 10" list of predictions of where medical science will be in 10 years – provided the funding is there to continue the advances being made today.

The FDA released a final report showing that its cost of developing and maintaining the biosimilars program from fiscal 2013 through 2015 exceeded $82 million. About 40 percent of that cost, $32.7 million, was spent in 2015 when the biosimilars program ramped up and the FDA approved Sandoz's Zarxio (filgrastim) as the first U.S. biosimilar. More than 58 percent of the cost was for labor, with other expenses reflecting operating costs and overhead, according to the report.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and partner Sanofi SA are hoping now to make their case in the Federal Circuit after a U.S. District Court jury ruled that patents covering Amgen Inc.'s competing PCSK9 antibody, Repatha (evolocumab), are valid, a decision that, if it stands, could put Regeneron and Sanofi on the hook for damages, including royalties from sales of Praluent (alirocumab).