With the debate over biosimilars coming back to a boil as lawmakers hammer out the broad outlines of a major healthcare reform bill, the Biotechnology Industry Organization devoted close to $2 million to lobbying in the first quarter.
There's a lot at stake in the debate. One bill offers 14 years of market exclusivity to biologics, while another bill in the Senate would lower that window down to five years. The biotech group has also been opposed to efforts that would allow pharmacists to switch a patient to a biologic equivalent--something that has already cut deep into traditional branded therapeutics' market share. And BIO wants to make sure that any conclusions reached during comparative effectiveness evaluations would only help guide providers with suggestions rather than mandate the treatments available to patients.
Patent protection also consumed some of biotech's agenda in Washington as lobbyists for the group took their message to the White House, Congress and the FDA.
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