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Life Sciences

Innovation is essential to promoting human health, agricultural productivity, and ecological sustainability. ITIF’s Center for Life Sciences Innovation conducts research supporting advances in human biotechnology; pharmaceuticals; and health care policy outside the realm of IT.

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The Hidden Toll of Drug Price Controls: Fewer New Treatments and Higher Medical Costs for the World

The Hidden Toll of Drug Price Controls: Fewer New Treatments and Higher Medical Costs for the World

When nations implement pharmaceutical price controls, they reduce pharmaceutical revenues, which then reduces investments in further R&D, limiting future generations’ access to new novel treatments needed to fight diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and diabetes.

Testimony to the Senate Finance Committee on “Prescription Drug Price Inflation”

Testimony to the Senate Finance Committee on “Prescription Drug Price Inflation”

Expenditures for retail prescriptions have been roughly stable for the past two decades as a share of total U.S. health-care expenditures. Instead of applying broad price controls, policymakers should promote affordability and mitigate out-of-pocket costs for individuals.

More Publications and Events

March 5, 2024|Events

Preserving U.S. Leadership in Biopharmaceutical Innovation

Watch now for an expert panel discussion surrounding the ITIF report examining why the United States lost its lead in other advanced technology industries, and how policymakers can avoid repeating the same mistakes in the biopharmaceutical sector.

February 29, 2024|Reports & Briefings

Not Again: Why the United States Can’t Afford to Lose Its Biopharma Industry

America’s leadership in advanced-technology industries can never be taken for granted, as evidenced by its losses in telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, televisions, solar panels, and chemicals. Policymakers must recognize what went wrong in those cases to avoid a similar industrial decline in the biopharmaceutical industry.

February 12, 2024|Blogs

Fact of the Week: A 1 Percent Increase in Drug Prescriptions Can Reduce Spending on Other Medical Services by 0.2 Percent

A report from the Congressional Budget Office suggests that on average, a 1 percent increase in prescriptions was associated with a 0.2 percent decrease in spending on other medical services.

February 6, 2024|Testimonies & Filings

Comments to the NIST Regarding the Draft Interagency Guidance Framework for Considering the Exercise of March-In Rights

America’s innovation system is fragile, and its leadership in advanced technology industries is never guaranteed or assured. The United States has taken—only to sacrifice—its lead in a wide-range of advanced technology industries, often in part because of significant policy lapses. It’s no time for additional unforced errors.

January 31, 2024|Testimonies & Filings

Comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regarding the WHO Pandemic Preparedness Agreement

The United States should not endorse an IPR waiver in the WHO Pandemic Preparedness Agreement. It would not increase the number of vaccines or therapeutics, or the global supply that might be needed to address a future global pandemic.

December 11, 2023|Blogs

Biden’s Assertion of Excessive Biopharma Industry Concentration Is a Flawed Rationale for a Flawed Policy

The administration is flat wrong that America’s biopharmaceutical industry is excessively concentrated. It’s also flat wrong that U.S. drug prices are rising out of control.

November 13, 2023|Testimonies & Filings

Comments to the European Commission Regarding the EU General Pharmaceuticals Legislation

Changes proposed in the EU General Pharmaceutical Legislation would double down on policies that hinder, not enable, EU life-sciences innovation potential, while forsaking other avenues that could more effectively enhance access without compromising innovation.

September 14, 2023|Events

Innovation and Competitiveness: GTIPA Summit, 2023

Join members of the Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance (GTIPA) for a series of expert panel discussions on technology and innovation policy. Topics will include the keys to subnational innovation competitiveness in Europe and South America, optimal ways to stimulate life sciences innovation, how digital technologies can drive decarbonization, and the possibilities for reimaging value chains in the global trading system.

September 5, 2023|Reports & Briefings

How Skeptics Misconstrue the Link Between Drug Prices and Innovation

A recent article in the British Medical Journal contends “high drug prices” are neither necessary nor justified to sustain biopharmaceutical innovation. But it misrepresents and misinterprets the facts, highlighting how faulty the rationale is for drug price controls.

August 30, 2023|Blogs

White House Names the First 10 Drugs Up for Medicare Price Negotiations; Misguided Attempt to Control Drug Prices Only Hurts Patients Long-Term

The IRA Medicare drug negotiations represent a poorly crafted policy with many direct and unintended consequences for biopharmaceutical innovation. Rather, this short-term win for government drug price-setting advocates will likely lead to long-term harms that patients will feel for decades.

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