Mass. bill would force drugmakers to defend prices

The pharmaceutical and insurance industries are going head to head over a bill that would make Massachusetts the first state to limit certain drug prices.

The proposed legislation would force drugmakers to defend their prices by revealing how much they spend on research, development and marketing, and would permit the state Health Policy Commission to cap the prices of some of the most expensive drugs.

“It would be an important step in increasing transparency,” said Eric Linzer, senior vice president of public affairs and operations at the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans. “It would provide an opportunity for policymakers and employer consumers to look at significant increases in drug prices at a time when the state is working to contain costs.”

The bill comes amid a backlash against drug prices, which can reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. A year’s supply of Bostonbased Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ new cystic fibrosis drug, for example, costs $259,000.

But Priscilla Vander Veer, a spokeswoman for the Pharmaceuticals Research and Manufacturers of America, said the industry doesn’t split research and development costs by individual drug.

“We study multiple compounds at one time, and only one out of 10 drugs makes it to market,” VanderVeer said.

The only thing the bill would accomplish is adding to the administrative burden on the very companies responsible in large part for Massachusetts’ economic growth, said Robert Coughlin, president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.

The bill would, however, open the “black box” of how drug companies set their prices, said Brian Rosman, research director at Boston-based Health Care for All.

“When there’s unconscionable profiteering,” Rosman said, “the state should step in and say, ‘Enough is enough.’ ”