Study claims Medicare price negotiations for drugs will lead to the loss of 3,100 jobs in Delaware

A study estimates that there would be more than 235 fewer regulatory approvals of new medicines over the next decade as well as 3,100 lost jobs for Delaware workers if proposals to expand federal government drug pricing policies go into effect.

Among the proposals under consideration is allowing Medicare to set prices for specific drugs five years after FDA approval, which would lead to significant lost therapies, innovation, and jobs in the biopharma ecosystem at an even more accelerated pace, a release stated.

The proposals are included in the Biden Administration's fiscal 2024 budget as well as the Senate's SMART Prices Act.

Research firm Vital Transformation modeled the impacts of expanded federal government-mandated drug pricing policies at five years following FDA approval. The study analyzed the reduction of new drug approvals and loss of jobs if these policies or others similar to them were enacted into law.

The changes have bipartisan support and were made as the government copes with rising drug costs for the Medicare program that covers retirees 65 and over. Previous legislation had barred the federal government from negotiating drug prices for Medicare. A related issue is the soaring price of insulin for the treatment of diabetes.

"The emerging consequences of the Inflation Reduction Act give us a glimpse at what sick patients and Delaware workers can expect if lawmakers continue to expand government-mandated drug pricing policies. According to the latest study, these misguided and deeply flawed policies could cost Delawareans 3,100 jobs and result in a drastic reduction of treatments for patients waiting on a cure," said Frank Howard, Jr., state director, We Work For Health Delaware. "We urge our elected leaders in the First State to consider these early indicators and abandon future proposals for government-mandated drug prices which would have a devastating effect on our state."

"At a time when the biopharmaceutical industry is just beginning to experience the negative impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act's government-mandated drug pricing policy, any new proposal only adds fuel to the fire and reinforces a deeply misguided and flawed approach," said Tom Kowalski, national co-chair of We Work For Health, a national organization that collaborates with biopharmaceutical research companies, vaccine manufacturers, their employees, and local businesses, as well as patient advocacy organizations. "This latest study demonstrates just how bad the damage could be should these plans be implemented."

The study forecasts the loss of 898 direct biopharmaceutical industry jobs and a total loss of 3,108 job in Delaware.

We Work For Health is hopeful that Congress will preserve incentives for small molecule research. Under the IRA, biologics have a 13-year period before the government can intervene and mandate drug prices, but small molecule drugs are limited to nine years prior to negotiation. This discrepancy will lead to a reduction in investment in small molecule drugs, the group claims.

Earlier this month, Vital Transformation and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) issued a separate study showing that patients could lose access to at least 40% of new medicines that wouldn't be developed as a result of government-mandated drug pricing policies contained in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The study is available at Vital Transformation or We Work For Health.