COA has submitted formal comments to Congress on the ongoing cancer drug shortage crisis – Community Oncology Alliance
COA has submitted formal comments to Congress on the ongoing cancer drug shortage crisis and solutions to finally address the financial disincentives and misguided public policies that are causing them. The comments are a response to a bicameral Request for Information (RFI) from the United States Congress House Committee on Energy and Commerce and United States Senate Committee on Finance regarding the increase in drug shortages.
As COA notes in the RFI response, over the years the generic market has generated razor-thin margins for generic manufacturers while becoming highly commoditized and marked by significant consolidation. For most generic drugs, it is a race to the pricing bottom, resulting in these drugs becoming unprofitable, at best, to manufacturers.
What little profit margins are realized are pushed even lower by seemingly well-intentioned government programs like the 340B Drug Pricing Program that layer on additional significant discounts and rebates. Together, the manufacturing complexity, low margins, and extreme discounts collectively create disincentives that make generic drugs even more financially unsustainable and susceptible to supply shocks and shortages.
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