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BIO Submits Comments to OIRA Re: Enrollment and Re-certification of Entities in the 340B Program

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The Honorable Howard A. Shelanski</div>
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Administrator</div>
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Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs</div>
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Office of Management and Budget</div>
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725 17th Street, NW</div>
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Washington, DC 20503</div>
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BY ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION</div>
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Re: Information Collection Request: Enrollment and Re-Certification of Entities in the 340B Drug Pricing Program and Collection of Manufacturer Data to Verify 340B Drug Pricing Program Ceiling Price Calculations [OMB No. 0915-0327&mdash;Revision]</div>
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Dear Administrator Shelanski:</div>
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The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) is pleased to submit the following comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in response to the Health Resources and Services Administration&rsquo;s (HRSA&rsquo;s) proposed Information Collection Notice entitled &ldquo;Proposed Collection Request: Enrollment and Re-Certification of Entities in the 340B Drug Pricing Program and Collection of Manufacturer Data to Verify 340B Drug Pricing Program</div>
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Price Calculations&rdquo;1 (the &ldquo;Notice&rdquo;). BIO is the world&rsquo;s largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations.</div>

The Honorable Howard A. Shelanski
Administrator
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20503
 
BY ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION
 
Re: Information Collection Request: Enrollment and Re-Certification of Entities in the 340B Drug Pricing Program and Collection of Manufacturer Data to Verify 340B Drug Pricing Program Ceiling Price Calculations [OMB No. 0915-0327—Revision]
 
Dear Administrator Shelanski:
 
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) is pleased to submit the following comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in response to the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) proposed Information Collection Notice entitled “Proposed Collection Request: Enrollment and Re-Certification of Entities in the 340B Drug Pricing Program and Collection of Manufacturer Data to Verify 340B Drug Pricing Program
Price Calculations” (the “Notice”). BIO is the world’s largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations.
 
BIO represents an industry devoted to discovering new treatments and ensuring
patient access to them. Accordingly, we support the 340B program as a way to improve access to therapies for needy patients. We believe that compliance with 340B program requirements by all parties—including manufacturers—is an important part of ensuring the sustainability of the 340B program. We also agree with HRSA that covered entities should have “confidence that the amounts being charged are in accordance with statutorily-defined ceiling prices.” We are concerned, however, that HRSA’s proposed information collection request is both
unnecessary and potentially unduly burdensome for manufacturers.
 
The following comments address our concerns with HRSA’s burden estimate articulated in the Notice, which we believe is both difficult to verify, given the lack of detail provided in the Notice as to how the proposed information collection would be operationalized, and laughably small. We begin, however, with our concerns that this information collection is not necessary in the first instance. We also note, while that many of these concerns were articulated in BIO’s letter to HRSA in response to the Agency’s 60-day Federal Register Notice issued last September, it appears that HRSA has not responded to these comments, contrary to the “Information Collection Request Time Line” that appears on the Department of Health and Human Services’ website. Indeed, while the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requires two separate notices, in part, to “consult with members of the public,” it appears that hte current Notice is a virtual copy of the 60-day Notice HRSA issued last year.