Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy: What does it say about health care?

Last Friday, President Biden released an executive order titled “Promoting Competition in the American Economy” While the order talk about transportation, internet companies, and farming, there were a number of provisions related to health care. I summarize each of these below. Specifically I review OTC hearing aids. Currently, many patients need to visit a doctor…

First biosimilar hits the market

Making a generic version of a single molecule drug is fairly straightforward.  Making a replica of a biologic treatment, however, is not.  Nevertheless, Congress signed into law the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (BPCI Act) to create a fast-track approval process for biological products that are demonstrated to be highly similar an FDA-approved biological product.  These products…

Quotation of the Day: Pricing of Biosimilars

Bilsimilars are biologic medical products whose active drug substance is made by a living organism or derived from a living organism by means of recombinant DNA or controlled gene expression methods. Biologic drugs can be patented, but once the patents expire, biosimilars can enter the market. Are biosimilars> priced similarly to generics? According to Ana…