Manatt’s Ian Spatz, senior advisor with Manatt Health, spoke with BioCentury about new drug pricing legislation in Congress.
BioCentury reports that Democrats and Republicans have been at odds over the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA), and many Republicans have rejected provisions intended to limit Medicare drug price increases.
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that the PDPRA’s mandatory rebate for drug costs above the “catastrophic cap,” the maximum out-of-pocket amount a beneficiary would pay under his/her health plan, “could provide further pressure on drug makers to try and launch new medicines at higher prices.”
Spatz said that drug companies have limited ability to increase launch prices.
“If they have the ability to launch at higher prices, why aren’t they doing that now?” he said.
Spatz also said that companies with products that have little to no competition may be able to launch at higher prices, but “for drugs that are third or fourth in a class, or that face competition from other interventions, it will be hard to launch at a much higher price."