Wall Street Looks Ahead: Market-Moving Events that Will Shape 2007
This article was originally published in RPM Report
Executive Summary
Wall Street analysts are confident that Congress will pass drug safety legislation this year, but in a poll conducted by The RPM Report, they didn't agree on much else. The panel was split most other questions-from whether Congress would remove the "non-interference" clause under Medicare Part D to whether FDA would approve another cox-2 inhibitor.
You may also be interested in...
The Power of the Purse: FDA Seeks More Money, Not More Authority
Congress can't wait to shower FDA with more regulatory authority, especially in the area of drug safety. But unless Capitol Hill can puts its money where its mouth is, expanding FDA's mission will only send the agency deeper into a fiscal crisis -- and leave industry worse off as a result. An underfunded agency leaves officials scrambling to complete day-to-day activities -- and less time to on activities to further drug development, like nanotechnology and the Critical Path initiative.
Putting the Bully in the Bully Pulpit: The Democrats' Plan to Cut Drug Prices
Legislation to force price negotiation under Medicare Part D is likely to end in a stalemate. But manufacturers can't afford to relax: the Democrats plan to turn up the pressure even if a law never passes. First they will compare Part D prices to other benchmarks. Then the bullying begins.
The Approval Drought Continues
No matter how you look at the numbers, it was another bad year for new product launches in the US. FDA approved more new drugs than last year, but just barely. And the number of products going off-patent actually exceeded the number of new launches. The sparse crop of new drugs this decade means lean years ahead for the pharma industry.