Marshall-backed bill passes Senate to lower prescription drug costs

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - A bill has passed the U.S. Senate to help lower the cost of prescription drugs.

Senator Roger Marshall says the U.S. Senate passed the Ensuring Innovation Act, which he helped introduce with Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Tina Smith (D-Min.) to help lower the price of prescription drugs. He said the legislation will help provide clarity for drug exclusivity to prevent market exclusivity to products that do not represent innovation and delay cheaper generic brands from entering the market.

“As a physician, and now a U.S. Senator, I believe innovation and competition can have a profound impact on driving down the cost of health care,” said Senator Marshall. “The current regulatory landscape unnecessarily delays patient access to FDA-approved generics. Our bipartisan legislation ensures affordable life-saving medicine while preserving innovation for cutting-edge medicine.”

Sen. Marshall said the FDA grants five years of exclusivity to drug products that are found to be a New Chemical Entity. He said in order to be an NCE, a drug product is required to have “active moiety” that has not been used in a product before. He said this legislation will codify the FDA’s current “active moiety” approach to granting NCE exclusivity.