Biden Executive Order on competition backs drug importation

On Friday, US President Joe Biden issued a wide ranging  Executive Order seeking to address overconcentration, monopolization, and unfair competition in the US economy.

Responding to the announcement, law firm Hyman, Phelps & McNamara’s Alan Kirschenbaum noted that, among the Order’s mandates for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) are several relating to prescription drugs.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services is directed to submit to the White House, by August 23, a plan to “combat excessive pricing of prescription drugs and enhance domestic pharmaceutical supply chains, to reduce prices paid by the federal government for such drugs, and to address the recurrent problem of price gouging.” The DHHS is also called upon to implement existing laws and initiatives supporting the development, approval, and Medicare and Medicaid payment for generics and biosimilars.