ARTICLE | Politics, Policy & Law
Tough path for pill penalty fix
Bipartisan House bill to extend IRA price negotiation window for small molecules to 13 years faces steep future
February 25, 2025 6:02 PM UTC
The attempt to mitigate the IRA’s disincentive to invest in small molecule drugs took a small step forward Tuesday with the introduction in the House of the Ensuring Pathways to Innovative Cures (EPIC) Act (H.R. 1492).
The bill seeks to eliminate the “pill penalty” by increasing the period small molecule drugs are exempt from Medicare price negotiation program to 13 years from 9 years. The change would make the period of exemption from price negotiation identical for drugs approved through NDA and BLA pathways. ...