Price Control and Shorter Patent Terms to Affect Biotech Industry

Proposals to impose price controls on Medicare's prescription drug program and to shorten the patent-protection period for biologics could stifle innovation and make biotech firms hesitant to spend money on drug discovery and development, writes Scott Eldridge of Florida-based contract chemistry lab Global Pharma Analytics. Controlling the prices Medicare pays for drugs would "reduce manufacturers' incentives to invest in R&D on products that would be expected to have significant Medicare sales," according to the Congressional Budget Office. Read the full story.