GPhA CEO said innovation, competition are vital to finding cancer cure

The Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) President and CEO Chip Davis released a statement last week regarding President Obama's final State of the Union Address, specifically about his remarks on ending cancer.

“President Barack Obama called for a major new initiative to identify a cure for cancer," Davis said. "GPhA applauds this administration’s efforts to fight cancer by funding the research that we all hope leads to a cure."

In his statement, Davis said that innovation and patient access are the keys in the war against this serious and potentially fatal disease affecting millions of Americans each year.

He encouraged policymakers to take a variety of steps aimed at helping the United States health care system achieve significant savings and improve access to medications for patients.

This includes reducing FDA approval timelines for generic drugs, increasing generic utilization among the low-income Medicare population, passing the FAST Generics Act to increase consumer access to affordable generic drugs, and ensuring that patients have access to biosimilar drugs.

"Competition from generic drugs provides the government and other health stakeholders with the necessary headroom to invest in cancer research and related projects," Davis said. "A healthy pharmaceutical market, one that balances innovation and competition, is crucial to positive patient outcomes and generates the savings that makes these investments possible."