Ahead of tonight’s State of the Union Address, Jim Greenwood, President and CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, shared what he hopes President Trump will say to America’s patients counting on the development of new medicines and cures, and the scientists and researchers working in labs across the country to produce them.    “What I hope [the President] doesn’t do is demonize the industry. BIO represents about 1,000 companies, most of them are small little outfits with a handful of scientists trying to cure diseases that have brutalized humans forever and we’re making tremendous progress. As long as we can follow the right moral precepts, I think we can get the job done and make patients have access to the medicines they need. ... “No patient should ever do without the medicine that he or she needs because they cannot afford what’s required to come from their pockets. “No policy should ever be acceptable to Congress, the President, a Governor or state legislator if it tends to drive investment away from biotech innovation, because there is a tremendous amount of hope resting there for patients if we can just keep the science going." To learn more about the flaws of importing foreign price controls, visit bio.org/save-cures.  ###  

In a new video, Alex Karnal, a life science investor and partner at Deerfield Management, shares why investing in new cures and treatments is personal, and he explains how President Trump’s plan to import foreign price controls would have an “absolutely chilling” effect on investments in transformational, life-saving therapies.    “President Trump, we have got to lower drug prices at the pharmacy counter right now. In order to do that, we need four key groups to come together … and derive a holistic solution to treat the disease versus using foreign reference pricing as a scheme to focus on a single symptom.” To learn more about the flaws of importing foreign price controls, visit bio.org/save-cures. Additional resources: The Challenges and Risks of Adopting Foreign Price Controls Oncologist Warns of IPI’s Potentially Dangerous Implications Despite Administration’s “Sky-High Rhetoric,” Importing Foreign Price Controls Will Harm Innovation and Patient Access Issue Brief: International Reference Pricing ###

Rachel King is co-founder and CEO of GlycoMimetics, a biotech company based in Rockville, Maryland that is working hard to develop new treatments for patients with various diseases of the blood. In a new video, Mrs. King explains why President Trump’s plan to impose foreign price controls on certain medicines would “directly inhibit” the ability of small biotech startups to attract the investments necessary to bring new cures and treatments to patients. Mrs. King adds the international reference pricing is “not the right way” to lower prescription drugs costs and calls on the president to ensure America continues to lead the world in biomedical innovation.  “Investors can put their money wherever they want to. Investors can put their money into apps, they can put them into cell phones, they can put them into IT … or they can put their money into developing new drugs.   “If we change the incentives and if we decrease the incentives for investing in new drugs, the money will flow out of the biotechnology industry and the United States risks losing its lead position in biotechnology.” To learn more about the flaws of importing foreign price controls, visit bio.org/save-cures.