Bill Sponsor
Senate Bill 909
117th Congress(2021-2022)
Prescription Drug Price Relief Act of 2021
Introduced
Introduced
Introduced in Senate on Mar 23, 2021
Overview
Text
Introduced
Mar 23, 2021
Latest Action
Mar 23, 2021
Origin Chamber
Senate
Type
Bill
Bill
The primary form of legislative measure used to propose law. Depending on the chamber of origin, bills begin with a designation of either H.R. or S. Joint resolution is another form of legislative measure used to propose law.
Bill Number
909
Congress
117
Policy Area
Health
Health
Primary focus of measure is science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease; health services administration and funding, including such programs as Medicare and Medicaid; health personnel and medical education; drug use and safety; health care coverage and insurance; health facilities. Measures concerning controlled substances and drug trafficking may fall under Crime and Law Enforcement policy area.
Sponsorship by Party
Independent
Vermont
Democrat
California
Democrat
Massachusetts
Democrat
Minnesota
Democrat
New Jersey
Senate Votes (0)
House Votes (0)
No Senate votes have been held for this bill.
Summary

Prescription Drug Price Relief Act of 2021

This bill establishes a series of oversight and disclosure requirements relating to the prices of brand-name drugs.

Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review at least annually all brand-name drugs for excessive pricing; HHS must also review prices upon petition. If any such drugs are found to be excessively priced, HHS must (1) void any government-granted exclusivity; (2) issue open, nonexclusive licenses for the drugs; and (3) expedite the review of corresponding applications for generic drugs and biosimilar biological products. HHS must also create a public database with its determinations for each drug.

Under the bill, a price is considered excessive if the domestic average manufacturing price exceeds the median price for the drug in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan. If a price does not meet this criteria, or if pricing information is unavailable in at least three of the aforementioned countries, the price is still considered excessive if it is higher than reasonable in light of specified factors, including development cost, revenue, and the size of the affected patient population.

The bill also requires drug manufacturers to report specified financial information for brand-name drugs, including research and advertising expenditures.

Text (1)
March 23, 2021
Actions (3)
03/23/2021
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security. Hearings held.
03/23/2021
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
03/23/2021
Introduced in Senate
Public Record
Record Updated
Jan 11, 2023 1:47:36 PM