AARP Urges Approval of Follow-On Biologics Bill

Faced with soaring healthcare costs driven in part by biopharmaceutical therapies, federal policymakers should give the FDA power to approve follow-on biologics, AARP said.

The group publicly expressed support for the "Access to Life-Saving Medicine Act," S.623 and H.R.1038, legislation that would create a pathway for approving follow-on biologic medicines introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) last month.

AARP restated the position it maintained at a recent congressional hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The prices of prohibitively expensive therapies that cost thousands of dollars may be significantly reduced with relatively cheaper follow-on biologics, according to AARP. For example, Epogen, a drug used to treat anemia, can cost as much as $10,000 per year, and Cerezyne, used to treat Gaucher disease, can cost as much as $200,000 per year.

"A therapy is only helpful to the patient who has access to it. Biologics hold great promise for treating serious diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, anemia and rheumatoid arthritis, but when some treatments costs thousands of dollars per dose, many patients cannot afford to fill their prescriptions," AARP President Erik Olsen said.