We live in a new era of medicine unimaginable just a decade ago. We can attack diseases at the molecular level and develop treatments based on a person’s distinct genetic makeup. Just imagine: personalized cancer treatment based on a patient’s individual genetic code, instead of chemotherapy or radiation therapy. What once was an idea is now reality, thanks to what America’s Biopharmaceutical Companies researchers achieve every day.
The goal is to advance public health benefits such as increased cost savings from informed and appropriate coverage and reimbursement decisions. In this way, we can help ensure patients have more timely access to cutting-edge medical technologies. We can facilitate access by helping to reduce the overall cost of providing these benefits to patients. And in promoting access, we will advance important public health goals.
Scott Gottlieb
FDA Commissioner
This new era of discovery holds unlimited promise with the potential to target and take down the most complex conditions facing humanity. With nearly 7,000 medicines in development globally, biopharmaceutical companies are investing heavily in treatments and cures for Alzheimer’s, various forms of cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and dozens of rare diseases – and are seeing tremendous success with the power to transform patients’ lives.
In the midst of this breakthrough science, medicine costs are growing at the slowest rate in years as a result of robust negotiation and competition in the marketplace. In fact, after factoring in discounts and rebates, prices for brand medicines increased just 1.9 percent last year and total spending on medicines increased just 0.6 percent. Yet, too often these negotiated savings are not shared with patients who are increasingly being asked to pay more out of pocket. These stories of struggle are why America’s biopharmaceutical companies are committed to working with policymakers to advance solutions that promote competition, modernize the drug discovery and development process, improve insurance affordability and move toward a system that prioritizes results for patients.
Learn how we can make medicines more affordable at LetsTalkAboutCost.org
Innovative treatments require innovative partnerships. America’s biopharmaceutical companies and insurers are partnering to get the right medicine in the hands of patients who need them.
We can afford the new era of medicine, and we can make it easier for patients to access these innovations.
Visit here to learn more about what can be done to support and sustain innovation and make health care coverage more affordable for patients.
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