Impact of International Reference Pricing on Drug Innovation

April 9, 2021

Policymakers in Washington are considering plans to replace the current market-based system for pricing prescription medicines with a system based on foreign reference pricing. If enacted, this policy will import to the US price controls that foreign countries use to deny patients access to the newest cures and treatments. It could also impede innovation and make it harder for small drug discovery companies to attract investment for crticial research and development.

BioUtah’s national partner, BIO, recently released an infographic and backgrounder that makes the case against this misguided policy. We previously highlighted an in-depth study by Vital Transformation, an international health economics firm, which examines the negative effects of foreign reference pricing models.

Foreign reference pricing was part of the Lower Drug Costs Now Act passed by House Democrats in 2019 (also known as H.R. 3) and has resurfaced in legislation, the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, recently introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).