A Florida congressman hopes to spur drug makers to create more generic drugs and spur competition in the marketplace.
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., teamed up with U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Oreg., to bring out the “Lower Drug Costs Through Competition Act" which they insist “will incentivize drug makers to develop generic drugs when competition currently does not exist, or when there is a drug shortage.”
The congressmen noted that there is often little incentive to develop generic drugs, pointing to the high-profile story back in 2015 when Martin Shkreli raised the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750.
“In this instance, there was no generic on the market at the time of the disproportionate price hikes,” Bilirakis’ office noted about the Daraprim price hike. “This bill incentivizes companies to develop these generic drugs by creating a new Priority Review Voucher for generic drugs. The voucher would be awarded to manufacturers that bring a drug to market where there is no current competition.”
The two congressmen made their case for the bill on Monday.
“Too often, we’ve seen the price of potentially lifesaving drugs skyrocket as bad actors take advantage of monopolies in the market,” Bilirakis said. “In fact, this is one of the top issues I hear about from constituents. People in my district and across the country need more options when it comes to accessing affordable medication, and that’s exactly what our bipartisan bill seeks to do. Our proposal uses the free market to lower drug costs, incentivize competition among drug makers, and help get treatments to patients faster.”
“The greed and abuse of power we’ve seen from certain unscrupulous drug companies in recent years is disgusting,” Schrader said. “We keep hearing stories about lifesaving drugs becoming astronomically expensive, sometimes overnight and often with zero explanation. This outrageous price gouging has to stop. Our bill will increase competition in the market, giving folks more choice while lowering costs, especially for the most vulnerable who’s lives depend on some of these medications.”
The bill was sent to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce on Monday. So far, eight congressional representatives have lined up behind the bill, including U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.
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