Senators Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Rick Scott of Florida unveiled bipartisan legislation to lower the costs of drugs that were developed using taxpayer-funded research.
“I’ve consistently fought to increase our federal investment in NIH, but we must also make sure that taxpayers are getting a fair return on their investment — instead of being gouged by drug companies,” said Van Hollen, a Democrat.
The bill would require drug companies licensing technology developed by the federal government to agree not to exceed reasonable prices, as determined by a new federal committee.
“There is no reason drug companies, especially those using taxpayer dollars to fund their research, should be charging Americans unreasonable prices for life-saving drugs,” said Scott, a Republican.
The new committee to assess prices would be called the “Drug Affordability and Access Committee.” It would determine whether prices were reasonable based on National Academy of Medicine studies of drugs, which would be based on several factors, including the amount of federal investment into its development.
The senators noted that all of the 210 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration from 2010-2016 was based on NIH-funded research, according to a 2018 study.
