That’s what BIO President & CEO Jim Greenwood says about COVID-19 treatments and vaccines in a new Vital Transformation podcast. He discusses what the biotech industry’s doing to fight the virus, plus his take on drug pricing, out-of-pocket costs, and more.
Let’s get right to what everyone wants to know: “We’re closer than people think” on COVID-19, he assures listeners. “There’s a lot going on—we just have to keep the curve down until some of these drugs arrive.”
He discusses some of these breakthrough drugs in the works, from Gilead’s remdesivir, which “tricks the virus” and blocks its ability to replicate, to Regeneron’s drug that might reduce inflammation and the need for ventilators, to Moderna’s potential candidate.
In the wide-ranging conversation, he covers everything from the history of the Medicare Part D benefit, to the importance of fixing out-of-pocket costs (and how), to how the industry has the potential to cure, treat, or prevent “every disease on the planet”—if policy allows investment in R&D to continue.
For more on how to improve the trust between industry, government, and patients, what Jim thinks about Twitter, and one major policy change he’d like to make, listen to the whole thing.
More Health Care News:
Roll Call: Vaccine prices a flashpoint in coronavirus funding talks
“I have not seen in my experience situations in which we were involved in the development of a vaccine, particularly for low- and middle-income countries that really needed it, where the pharmaceutical companies priced it out of their reach,” Dr. Fauci said.
The Washington Post (Opinion): Three cheers for Big Pharma as it rushes to develop a vaccine
“This rapid activity points to why it’s beneficial to have a large, competitive drug industry.”
