Author Archives: Denise Bell
BioUtah Award Winners and Utah Rare Disease Advisory Council Take Center Stage at Utah Life Sciences Innovation Caucus
More than a dozen Utah legislators on Wednesday, November 20, held a breakfast meeting of the Utah Life Sciences Innovation Caucus (ULSIC) at the state capitol.
BioUtah and Coalition of Patient Advocates Talk PBM Reform with U.S. Reps. Blake Moore and Celeste Maloy
BioUtah’s VP for Government Affairs, Denise Bell, along with a coalition of patient advocates, life sciences executives, pharmacists, physicians, oncologists, and community organizations, held a lunch meeting with Representatives Blake Moore (R-UT) and Celeste Maloy (R-UT) October 1 to discuss the dangers of giving pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) command over how much patients pay for […]
bioMeriéux, Curza, Present to Utah Life Sciences Innovation Caucus
Utah legislators on Wednesday, August 21, held a meeting of the Utah Life Sciences Innovation Caucus (ULSIC) at the state capitol. BioUtah President and CEO, Kelvyn Cullimore, introduced representatives from Salt Lake City-based bioMeriéux and Curza who presented before the ULSIC. Megan Kuehn, senior vice president of site operations for bioMeriéuxi, described the company’s development […]
Halia Therapeutics Celebrates Grand Opening of Its Lehi, Utah Headquarters
It was standing room only Tuesday as Halia Therapeutics held a ribbon cutting for the opening of its new headquarters in Lehi, Utah – a 20,000 square foot state-of-art drug research and development facility. CEO and co-founder, David Bearss, Ph.D. welcomed guests and shared the Halia mission: to develop novel therapies to improve the lives […]
Denali Therapeutics, Alucent Biomedical, Present to Utah Life Sciences Innovation Caucus
Utah legislators on Wednesday, June 14, held a meeting of the Utah Life Sciences Innovation Caucus (ULSIC) at the state capitol. BioUtah President and CEO, Kelvyn Cullimore, kicked off the meeting and introduced representatives from Denali Therapeutics and Alucent Biomedical who presented before the ULSIC. Cindy Dunkle, chief people officer for Denali, described the company’s […]
Representative Blake Moore Stands Up for Innovation
The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health on May 10 held a hearing examining government policies that inhibit medical innovation and patient access. Utah Representative Blake Moore (R-UT), a member of the subcommittee, raised concerns about the lack of an expedited Medicare coverage pathway for breakthrough medical technologies. He specifically called out how repeal […]
BioUtah Recognizes 2023 Rare Disease Day
BioUtah on Feb. 28 joined Utah’s rare disease community, including patients, families and advocates, in recognizing 2023 Rare Disease Day at an inspirng event hosted at Recursion headquarters in Salt Lake City. Recursion CEO, Chris Gibson, along with BioHive Executive Director Aimee Edwards, kicked off the evening’s program which featured a panel of young rare […]
HEALTHCARE POLICY FIGURES PROMINENTLY IN $1.7 TRILLION OMNIBUS GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL
Congress is expected to vote this week on a massive omnibus government funding bill that would run through the end of the 2023 fiscal year. The legislative text was released on Tuesday. The $1.7 trillion, 4,155-page bill includes a number of significant healthcare provisions. Of particular interest to the life sciences industry are provisions included […]
Sen. Lee Introduces Bill to Increase Patient Access to Biosimilars
On November 17, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the “Biosimilar Red Tape Elimination Act” to increase patient access to biosimilars and reduce costs by easing switching studies required to allow a biosimilar to be substituted for a biologic. View a one-page summary HERE. Currently, pharmacists can substitute generics in lieu of their branded counterparts without […]
Senator Mike Lee Introduces Bill to Roll Back Government Drug Price Controls
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced the “Protecting Drug Innovation Act” which would roll back Medicare’s authority to set drug prices through a new punitive negotiation program. This government price-setting policy was a key component of the Democrats’ “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA). The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the IRA’s drug pricing provisions […]
Senator Mike Lee Urges Action for Transitional Coverage of Innovative Med Tech
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and a group of like-minded colleagues are preparing to send a letter to CMS Administration Chiquita Brooks-LaSure urging the agency to issue a proposed rule by year’s end to provide accelerated Medicare coverage for emerging medical technologies. Medicare patients should have timely access to innovative and beneficial care, which can change […]
BIOHIVE STEM SEPTEMBER KICK-0FF
Last week, BioHive kicked off its celebration of “STEM September” with an evening of networking in downtown Salt Lake City. Life sciences professionals joined from all over the Salt Lake Valley to connect with the industry and support the efforts of BioHive. “I was so inspired hearing stories from the people that make Utah’s life […]
