Intellectual property is paving the way for a promising future – saving lives made possible through investing billions in research to discover and create multiple COVID-19 vaccines. The record timing of the creation of these vaccines will be remembered as some of modern-day science’s greatest achievements. However, we are hearing that Congress is currently considering socialist legislation that threatens our healthcare system, reduces access, stifles innovation, threatens jobs, deters investments, and risks our future life-saving cures and vaccines. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be providing you a series of healthcare and innovation related facts so you know what’s at stake.
Welcome to the newest series of CIFE’s Healthcare Fact of the Week!
FACT ONE – The cost drug companies devote to develop a new drug—including capital costs and expenditures on drugs that fail to reach the market—has been estimated to range from less than $1 billion to more than $2 billion.
FACT TWO – Importing government-imposed price controls would discourage the medical innovation that benefits so many Americans. In fact, legislation such as HR 3 (the Lower Drug Cost Now Act from the 116th Congress), could reduce biopharmaceutical firms’ revenue by $1.5 trillion over the next decade.
FACT THREE – Industry spending on R&D has greatly increased over the past twenty years. In 2019, the pharmaceutical industry spent $83 billion dollars on R&D. Adjusted for inflation, that amount is about 10 times what the industry spent per year in the 1980s.
FACT FOUR – The introduction of new drugs has increased in the past two decades. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of new drugs approved for sale increased by 60 percent compared with the previous decade, with a peak of 59 new drugs approved in 2018.
FACT FIVE – 87% of Americans agree the coronavirus pandemic has shown how important it is for drug companies to make significant investments in research and development.
FACT SIX – The United States leads the world in ensuring access to new medicines. By contrast, Canadians could access just 49% of those new drugs, with an average delay of 15 months.
FACT SEVEN – Intellectual property intensive manufacturing industries, such as the leading biopharmaceutical industry, drive economic progress and support 57.6 million jobs for Americans.
FACT EIGHT – Intellectual property protections deliver more treatment options for patients. In the last three years alone, 150 new treatments and cures have been approved by the FDA, and over 3,000 generic alternatives have been approved or are in the process of being approved. Policies that undermine IP protections are a threat to the future of affordable treatment options and cures for patients.