President Obama's 2014 budget proposal a mixed bag for pharma

US President Barack Obama $3.77 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2014 delivers mixed news for the biopharmaceutical industry, according to BioWorld. The proposal's tax reforms may benefit small biotechs, but it would prevent major drugmakers from moving profits out of the country to avoid US taxes. While the proposal would raise the FDA'S budget to $4.7 billion, the agency would still see a $15 million decline in funding for its drug, medical device and biologics programs.

From the industry’s point of view, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) senior vice president Matthew Bennett said the President “has pressed for innovation and biomedical research, job creation, and controlling health care costs and yet his 2014 budget includes stale, previously rejected proposals that would undercut all of these efforts. Notably, not one of these policies was included in the budget blueprints already passed by the House and the Senate. This budget is bad for patients, bad for innovation, and bad for the economy.

President Obama's budget proposal would reduce biologic exclusivity from 12 years to seven, and it includes more than $160 billion in reduced spending that affects drugmakers, comments Medical Markets and Media. The plan would increase discounts for branded medications under Medicare Part D and reduce prices for drugs for people eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.