President Biden introduced his $1.8 trillion American Families Plan proposal to Congress in his first joint session, but it does not address a plan for drug pricing reform. ‍

Key House and Senate Democrats have announced that although President Biden did not include reforms such as Medicare negotiation in his proposal, they will continue to push for drug pricing measures. Republicans remain vehemently opposed to the idea of allowing the HHS Secretary to negotiate for Medicare beneficiaries, preferring instead to address gaming tactics that manufacturers abuse. To read more, click here.

Senator Wyden (D-OR) announced he has begun to draft a new drug pricing package.

‍The Senator recently declined to support Speaker Pelosi’s H.R. 3 bill as he pursues an alternative, less controversial bill of his own. In response to President Biden’s request for Congress to pass Medicare negotiation this year, Wyden has begun to craft a policy that will have unanimous support among democratic senators, rather than Speaker Pelosi’s controversial proposal. To read the entire article, click here.

Congress is investigating drug manufacturers who often create patent thickets to protect their most profitable drugs.

‍The House Oversight Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee has held hearings on anticompetitive strategies that the pharmaceutical industry abuses in the past. Notably, the subcommittee has questioned executives from Teva, Amgen, Novartis, and Celgene on their monopolies and pay for delay tactics. Most recently, the subcommittee announced they will hear testimony from AbbVie’s CEO (May 18th)on their abuse of patent thickets. To read the entire notice, click here.

The IQVIA Institute released a new report on Global Medicine Spending and Usage Trends: Outlook to 2025.

The report found that the global prescription drug market is expected to grow 3-6% CAGR to $1.6trillion by 2025. The estimate does not include spending on COVID-19 vaccines, which is projected to be an additional $157 billion in spending.  The greatest factor increasing spending is the use of new therapeutics in developed nations, offset by patents and competition. The report also predicts that after COVID-19, China is expected to have a significant increase in use of new innovative drugs. To read the full report, click here.

CIDSA Experts in the News

Stacie Dusetzina spoke with reporters at KUAF on the costs of oral chemotherapy medications. Dusetzina discussed a previous JAMA article where she found the average monthly cost of orally administered chemotherapy to be $14,000. Due to the high cost, research has estimated half of patients do not even pick up their first course of treatment. To read the full article, click here.