US Congress proposes bills to strengthen pharma competition, promote innovation

The efforts made by some pharmaceutical companies to hinder generic competition have drawn the ire of Congress. On Thursday, members of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate introduced legislation that targets efforts that have limited competition, which keeps the price of prescription drugs high.

These new bills result from a three-year investigation conducted by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform that honed in on anti-competitive efforts within the industry that have prevented generic drugs and biosimilars from entering the market which would provide Americans with lower-priced treatment options.