Cor­rect­ed: Bi­par­ti­san IRA fix seeks to align small mol­e­cule and bi­o­log­ic ne­go­ti­a­tion pe­ri­ods

As the bio­phar­ma in­dus­try has loud­ly crit­i­cized a pro­vi­sion in the In­fla­tion Re­duc­tion Act that pro­vides for ne­go­ti­a­tions to hap­pen soon­er for small mol­e­cule drugs than bi­o­log­ics, rep­re­sen­ta­tives on both sides of the aisle yes­ter­day af­ter­noon in­tro­duced the bill that will even the play­ing field be­tween the two.

While most drugs and bi­o­log­ics typ­i­cal­ly en­joy about 14 years with­out gener­ic or biosim­i­lar com­pe­ti­tion, the IRA sets ne­go­ti­a­tions for 10 of the most ex­pen­sive drugs (start­ing in 2026) at 13 years af­ter launch for bi­o­log­ics and 9 years for small mol­e­cule drugs. This new bill wants to in­crease the wait for small mol­e­cule drugs to 13 years.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER