The biotechnology industry, already grappling with funding, research, and reimbursement challenges, has some new worries: how federal budget cuts and the impending Supreme Court decision on President Obama’s health care law could scramble their business calculations.
Among concerns cited by executives Wednesday at the Biotechnology Industry Organization's annual convention in Boston were potential cuts in National Institutes of Health grants, which could dampen the basic research that is the lifeblood of medical innovation. Also, they said, a high court ruling invalidating the Affordable Care Act could strip away a protection that gives biotech companies a dozen years of exclusive rights to the data underpinning their drugs.
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These CEOs should make a connection between their concern about federal funding, and what they learned from their keynote speakers, especially Henry Paulson, about the danger from the uncontrolled national debt.If they want continued support for research, they'd better get on board with efforts to cut other federal spending.