HSCA Urges Congress to Address Generic Drug Price Spikes

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Healthcare Supply Chain Assoc. (HSCA) recently urged Congress to address price spikes in the generic drug market by granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to expedite review and approval of new drug applications for products where there are two or fewer manufacturers, or in instances where there have already been price spikes.

HSCA recently sent letters to the Senate Special Committee on Aging and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee encouraging Congress to take specific action to help ensure a healthy generic market and safeguard patient and provider access to essential medications.

“Significant recent price spikes in the generic drug market are an enormous risk to public health and are jeopardizing patient access to affordable healthcare,” said HSCA President and CEO Todd Ebert. “HSCA and its member-group purchasing organizations are committed to lowering costs and increasing competition in the healthcare marketplace. We urge Congress to give FDA authority to expedite review and approval for new generic drugs that have the potential to mitigate price spikes and help ensure access to critical medications for healthcare providers and the patients they serve.”

HSCA members have recently seen price spikes for many widely used generic drugs. In less than two years, for example, the price of two important generic cardiac drugs increased by more than 2,700{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5}. Additionally, one generic anti-parasitic compound recently surged to a 4,522{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} price increase.

“We have recently seen significant spikes for generic drugs where there are two or fewer manufacturers in the market, and where a lack of competition among manufacturers has allowed high prices to go largely unchecked. Limited manufacturing options also means that quality-control problems and disruptions to manufacturing can jeopardize supply and exacerbate the ongoing problem of drug shortages,” said Ebert in the HSCA letter to the Senate Special Committee on Aging.