Vizient Endorses Legislation to Support Competition and Biosimilar Adoption to Lower Drug Prices

Vizient announced that it has endorsed two more bills aimed at reducing drug prices by taking steps to support competition in the prescription drug marketplace. First, Vizient endorsed the Fair Access for Safe and Timely (FAST) Generics Act of 2019. The FAST Generics Act would ensure that drug makers are unable to utilize stall tactics to prevent generic drug manufactures from accessing samples needed to bring generic competition into the marketplace. The legislation takes a similar approach to addressing the issue as the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act, which Vizient endorsed earlier this year.

Vizient also endorsed the Biologic Patent Transparency Act of 2019. The bill would make information about the patents filed on biological drugs publicly available. In recent years biologic manufacturers have filed numerous patents – often referred to as “patent thickets” around biologic products. The array of patent activity has made it very complex and costly for competing biosimilar products to make it to market. By making that information readily available, it would provide needed transparency to the market and promote development and more widespread adoption of less-costly, safe and effective biosimilar medications.

“As Congress continues to identify solutions to bring greater rationality to prescription drug pricing, removing obstacles that stand in the way of effective competition should be an essential consideration. Both these bills will take important steps to address anti-competitive actions and promote more widespread adoption of biosimilar treatment options,” said Steven Lucio, vice president, pharmacy solutions for Vizient. Vizient is the nation’s largest healthcare performance improvement company serving a diverse membership that includes academic medical centers, pediatric facilities, community hospitals, integrated healthcare delivery networks and non-acute healthcare providers. – Medical Buyer Bureau