Biogen Inc.’s pricing of its newly approved Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm (aducanumab), has made it the latest bull’s eye for lawmakers and advocacy groups targeting U.S. drug prices, especially given the controversy surrounding the drug’s approval, which has resulted in the resignation of three of the 11 members of the FDA’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee.
COVID-19 undoubtedly will be the top U.S. health care priority for the 117th Congress and the incoming Biden administration, but that doesn’t mean prescription drug prices are no longer an issue. A raft of new-year price increases, many for already costly drugs, is ensuring drug pricing remains high on the congressional agenda.
Touting the efforts his administration already has taken to lower U.S. prescription drug prices through increased competition, President Donald Trump placed the burden for further action squarely on Congress during his State of the Union address Tuesday, Feb. 4.
It may be winter in the U.S., but the 2020 campaign season is heating up, especially in swing states that could determine political and ideological control of Congress. Those states are being stormed with ads picking up on public outrage over prescription drug prices.
In another marathon session Tuesday, the third U.S. House committee with jurisdiction over prescription drug pricing issues marked up H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, clearing the way for a House vote on the partisan measure yet this month.