Md. drug-pricing measures misguided

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State legislation that is intended to impose onerous reporting requirements on drug and therapeutic manufacturers is misguided and potentially harmful to patient access and the biotechnology industry in the state. There are a handful of states, including Maryland, reviewing drug-pricing legislation today. Only the state of Vermont has ever passed such legislation.

The bills presented fail to recognize the highly complex nature of drug distribution logistics and reimbursement. The diagram prepared by Adam Fein represents a simple view of the flow of products and cash in the U.S. drug delivery system.

To avoid an overly complex diagram, Dr. Fein left off some key elements, such as specialty distributors, providers, and government mandated programs like Medicaid rebates and PHS/340(b) pricing. Nevertheless, the diagram makes it clear that attempting to leverage manufacturer drug prices by requiring the reporting of proprietary and commercially sensitive information will only benefit the other players in the supply and reimbursement chains and provide no financial benefit for the consumer or patient.

It will, however, reduce the capital available for innovation, making it much more difficult for biotechnology companies in the state to thrive and survive without needed strategic investment and collaborations.

In addition, required reporting of proprietary and sensitive information will cause companies to hesitate to bring their products to the state resulting in undesirable patient access problems.

Martin Rosendale is CEO of Selnova, LLC and executive adviser to the Maryland Technology Council.