House Energy and Commerce Committee to Hold Hearings on Follow-on Biologics and Reverse Payments

On Wednesday, May 2nd, two subcommittees of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce will hold hearings of importance to pharmaceutical companies: first, on legislation to establish an abbreviated pathway for FDA approval of follow-on biologics; second, on a pending bill to ban "reverse payment" settlements of Hatch-Waxman litigation.

At 10 a.m. ET, the Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing entitled "Assessing the Impact of a Safe and Equitable Biosimilar Policy in the United States."  Persons scheduled to appear include Dr. Janet Woodcock, Deputy Commissioner and Chief Medical Officer of the FDA, as well as executives from Insmed, Genentech, GPhA, and others.

At 3 p.m. ET, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing entitled "Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2007."  Persons scheduled to appear include Jon Leibowitz, Commissioner of the FTC, as well as Prof. Scott Hemphill, law professor at Columbia, Dr. Barry Sherman, CEO of Apotex, and others.

RELATED READING:

• Pharmalot interview with Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) on his follow-on biologics bill
• March 25 post on House Oversight Committee hearing on follow-on biologics
• March 8 post on Senate Health Committee hearing on follow-on biologics
• February 15 post on Senate Judiciary Committee passage of reverse payments bill

UPDATES:

• An archived video, the prepared testimony, and a transcript of the follow-on biologics hearing are available here.
• The video, testimony, and transcript of the reverse payments hearing are here.