Week in Review: The latest from PhRMA

Today’s “Week in Review” covers the last two weeks of activity here at PhRMA. As you’ll see, we’ve been busy!

We’re Fighting Back: Our new From Hope to Cures ad campaign launched on Monday. In it, we’re highlighting patients like Rhys and Jamie, and Jen, a biopharmaceutical scientist, and focusing on the promise of innovation and new medicines in bringing hope to patients and society. Check out our ad featuring Rhys, a five-year-old who has hope in the face of his diabetes diagnosis thanks to the research and innovation being dedicated in pursuit of a cure.

Canada’s innovation opportunity: Robust intellectual property protections are critical to sustained innovation and the development of better drugs. While many of America’s trading partners are notoriously lax on intellectual property protections, Canada has also emerged as a threat to biopharmaceutical innovation. Learn more about Canada’s opportunity to reevaluate its IP laws and our new initiative, Patents Protect, to urge Canada’s timely action on this issue.

Statement on the President’s FY2017 budget: President Obama’s proposed FY2017 budget includes proposals that will stifle biopharmaceutical innovation and jeopardize patients’ access to necessary drugs and treatments. These proposals would reduce intellectual property protections and restructure the Medicare Part D program, driving up premiums and reducing choice. We do applaud the administration’s continued focus on tackling issues of prescription drug abuse and the need to reform the 340B program. Read the rest of our statement here.

Commitment to quality: PhRMA’s member companies are committed to ensuring high product quality and safety through both innovation and compliance with federal regulations. Read more about our support for the FDA’s movement toward a risk-based inspection program.

American Heart Month: February is American Heart Month, so we’ve taken the opportunity to celebrate the progress has been made in the treatment of heart disease and the importance of innovation and adherence in improving heart disease patients’ quality of life.

Celebrating cancer advances: Thursday, February 4 marked World Cancer Day, and we took the time to reflect on the tremendous advances in cancer prevention and treatment made in recent years.

340B Spotlight: New data from the American Hospital Association shows a decline in uncompensated care at hospitals, despite an increase in the number of hospitals eligible for the 340B discount prescription program.  This, and new findings showing that 340B hospitals account for over half of Part B drug reimbursements but underperform in Medicare hospital outpatient revenue, further underscores the need for congressional action on eligibility criteria.

Medicare Monday:   Over the past 10 years, the Part D program has provided affordable prescription drug coverage to seniors and people living with disabilities. Proposals aimed at altering Part D could severely jeopardize beneficiary access to medicines. Learn why the Part D program should remain unchanged, and take a look at what is being said in the news about these harmful proposals.