House Democrats took testimony last week on their bid to reform America’s drug prices with a hearing on seven bills that seek to promote generics.
The Energy & Commerce’s health subcommittee’s new chair, Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), opened the March 13 hearing by predicting the legislation would “inject competition” into the drug market.
Chester Davis, Jr., president and CEO of the Association for Accessible Medicines, said the generic group strongly endorses two bills considered at the hearing, the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act (H.R. 965)—which would create a pathway for generic drugmakers to sue branded manufacturers for withholding samples they need for generic development—and the Fair Access for Safe and Timely (FAST) Generics Act (H.R. 985), which also would give generic manufacturers access to samples of approved drugs.
“Congress should immediately pass the CREATES and FAST Generics acts and enact these solutions into law,” Davis said.
