Policies are counterproductive to his 'cancer moonshot' dreamsIn 2016, then-Vice President Joe Biden was charged with leading the “cancer moonshot” — an aspirational call to find a cure for one of the most destructive diseases ever. Fast-forward to today, and now as president, Mr. Biden continues to wash, rinse and repeat the rhetoric.
Exhibit A is the drug price controls included in the Inflation Reduction Act. Sold as “negotiating,” in reality, the government is able to compel private drugmakers to provide certain medications at a fraction of the market price through Medicare. The result is exactly what you would expect. The government price manipulation is having a chilling effect on the development of new, lifesaving treatments, therapies and vaccines.
Rather than pulling its foot off the gas with this misguided approach, the White House is attempting to double down on the strategy. In his recent State of the Union address, Mr. Biden remarked that “it’s now time to go further and give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices for 500 different drugs over the next decade.”is also working to unilaterally handicap the private sector’s ability to innovate for low-income Americans.