Making Biologic Medicines More Affordable

This project will introduce the problem of high‐priced biologic medicines to the public and policymakers, and to propose feasible policy reforms that could tackle this problem to achieve lower overall spending, while preserving — if not expanding — access to clinically important medicines. Specifically, the lead investigator will write two to three articles for national media outlets and a health policy journal to explain: 1) the difference between small- and large-molecule drugs; 2) the differences in how low-cost alternatives drugs are regulated; and 3) the economic consequences of these different regulatory structures in terms of barriers to entry for biosimilar drugs. Moreover, the researcher will quantify how these barriers have led to higher unit prices and spending growth in biologics compared to generic drugs in the U.S. and biologics in other countries, as well as discuss the near‐ and mid‐term pipeline of high‐revenue biologics.