House Oversight Committee Spotlights Anticompetitive Practices Blocking Access to Lower Cost Biosimilars

In a letter to the FTC coinciding with today’s hearing, Committee Chair Rep. Maloney demands full investigation

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee today held a hearing that highlighted the need for biosimilar competition to bring down health care costs.  The Biosimilars Forum applauds the Committee’s efforts after its two-year investigation, detailed in a 48-page report, that revealed serious allegations of a pattern of behavior that has discouraged biosimilar competition, and encourages Congress to pass policies that help patients access lower-cost biosimilars.

Unfair practices that block biosimilar competition and patient access to these lower-cost, lifesaving products drive up costs for patients and taxpayers,” said Biosimilars Forum Executive Director Meaghan Rose Smith. “Biosimilars are the next generation of generics and have the opportunity to save us billions in health care costs, but not if they are blocked. Congress and the Biden administration have a historic opportunity to take action to lower health care costs now with policies that incentivize lower-cost biosimilars instead of the more expensive drugs.

In a letter submitted today to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Kelly Slaughter, Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Chair of the Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee, Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), urged the FTC to open an investigation into anticompetitive practices preventing lower-cost biosimilars from coming to market. The letter alleges that anticompetitive practices at a leading biopharmaceutical company have “delayed biosimilar competition for far longer than warranted… We ask that you investigate whether this delay was the result of anticompetitive conduct in violation of U.S. law.”

“Report after report shows how competition from biosimilars can lower prices and we applaud the leadership of Chairs Maloney, Nadler and Cicilline to address the barriers to wider adoption of biosimilars,” said Smith.

For more information on the Biosimilars Forum or the policy proposals it supports, visit biosimforum.wpengine.com or supportbiosimilars.com.