Doggett Opening Statement at Health Subcommittee Hearing on Biosimilars
(As prepared for delivery)
There is certainly a lot to talk about when it comes to the state of the biosimilar and greater pharmaceutical market. I am a firm believer in good ol’ fashioned American competition and a healthy free market, but the Trump agenda is doing nothing to promote that.
While the pharmaceutical sector is briefly exempted from Trump tariff taxes, he has promised they are coming. The only thing that will accomplish is ‘liberating’ more Americans from the lifesaving medications they need. Big Pharma is ‘liberated’ to continue charging Americans the highest prices in the world while paying nothing in taxes due to Trump’s tax breaks for outsourcing.
Meanwhile, consumers will pay more for less as innovative research is decimated by Trump/Musk funding cuts. Support eliminated for the groundbreaking vaccine research conducted by Dr. Jason McLellan and his team at UT Austin. No funds for the many clinical trials patients rely on for a lifesaving cure to cancer, Alzheimer’s, and more. And no experts at the FDA and NIH to assist in the development and approval of new therapies thanks to DOGE’s abrupt layoffs in a cruel display designed to humiliate dedicated public servants as they were turned away while arriving at work.
Some have issued stark warnings about what is to come. After being forced out from his role overseeing vaccine development and approval at the FDA, Dr. Peter Marks shed light on the shattered agency left behind. “It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.”
While we all share the mission of eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse, none of these actions are efficient or targeted at the real sources of waste and abuse. Taxpayers fund the most innovative research. Every new drug approved over the prior decade (2010-19) was developed with taxpayer funding. And while the early stage basic research is critical, it’s not the end of the story. Taxpayers are funding late stage development and clinical trials and the newly approved drugs with the highest clinical value are rooted in taxpayer funding. Innovative treatments like Xtandi for prostate cancer, which was almost solely developed with public funding, PrEP treatments to prevent HIV infections, gene therapies to treat cancer, and so much more.
Instead of focusing on spending cuts, my Republican colleagues should be looking to eliminate the many tax breaks that Big Pharma benefits from. It’s not pharma that will start paying these new tariff taxes, those will be passed down to consumers. You need to be closing tax dodging loopholes that allow them to offshore profits, write off their aggressive advertisement expenses, and further enrich themselves with stock buybacks and dividends over investments in innovative R&D.
In 2023, Pfizer, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson paid zero in tax. Each made tens of billions of dollars in revenue while charging Americans more than consumers in other countries and repeatedly spiking prices. Some of those prices will be lower next year thanks to Democratic legislation finally providing a narrow Medicare negotiation program. At least we hope those prices will take effect. Big Pharma is throwing everything they have at fighting this legislation in the courtroom and in this hearing room.
If you want to cut some waste, let’s start by expanding what was very modest negotiation legislation. We should be eliminating lengthy delays before a drug is eligible for negotiation, ensuring drugs with limited competition are also eligible, and providing lower prices to all Americans, including the uninsured. And critically, if we want to make sure Americans aren’t getting ripped off, we need to stop paying the highest prices in the world. Even after negotiation, Americans are paying an average of twice as much as consumers in other developed countries because the federal government has failed to negotiate a better deal.
Trump promised to lower prices on day one and while clearly that day is long past, the opportunity to do the right thing is never gone. As we continue this discussion, I urge my colleagues finally liberate themselves from Big Pharma’s stranglehold.
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