Kowalski: Texas jobs are dependent on smart prescription drug policymaking – Rio Grande Guardian

Over the years, there has been no shortage of political bashing of the biopharmaceutical industry. At the national level, the Inflation Reduction Act will impose the first-ever federal price controls on certain drugs – with the current administration pushing for even more draconian measures. We even see it here in Texas, where the state legislature last year passed a measure to import price-controlled prescription drugs from Canada.

What’s important to remember is that none of these actions will actually make prescription medicines more affordable at the pharmacy counter – more on that a little later on. Instead, these legislative punches may win political points but they do even more significant damage when it comes to jobs and economic development in Texas.

The Lone Star State is increasingly one of the nation’s leading life sciences hubs with more than 6,000 biotechnology-related manufacturing and research companies setting up shop here. But that only scrapes the surface of the financial impact these companies have in the state. Every single one of these biotech firms has a network of vendors, companies that manufacture drug packaging, handle distribution, build factories and office buildings, maintain heating and air conditioning systems, provide essential raw materials, offer food and custodial services, and so much more.

These enterprises comprise a powerful economic and job-creating engine that is helping to make the Texas economy one of the most robust in the nation. That helps attract families from across the country, seeking financial opportunities and bright futures, to move here.

New data shows that the vendors providing goods and services to biopharmaceutical research companies with operations in Texas are spending more than $2.5 billion per year and supporting nearly 310,000 jobs. In addition, these vendors for the biotech industry are generating $95 billion in economic output within the state’s borders.

As someone who has spent his career looking for ways to promote medical research, development and manufacturing, this new data is encouraging. And, yet, some politicians want to put unnecessary legislative and regulatory shackles on the industry and its vendor affiliates who are bolstering our economy and creating so many jobs in Texas – and across the country. It doesn’t make sense.

It’s especially confusing when the so-called solutions they are offering are already prompting some biopharmaceutical companies to curtail the research and development of new drugs. This will have a negative impact on jobs, and, not bring cost relief to consumers.

Texas legislative efforts to import Canadian price controls into this country won’t benefit consumers because Canada’s health authorities have said repeatedly that they don’t have a large enough domestic pharmaceutical supply to fulfill demand in the United States. And ongoing actions to impose price controls on pharmaceuticals ignore the fact that manufacturers don’t determine the prices that we pay at the pharmacy. The supply chain middlemen, specifically pharmacy benefit managers, do that with harmful practices that drive up patient out-of-pocket costs and restrict access to more affordable drugs.

Two vital objectives – maintaining biotech-driven economic growth and achieving more affordable prescription drugs – should never be viewed as incompatible. With the right public policies, we can have both. Texans are benefiting from a vibrant economic environment in which life sciences companies and their vendors are creating tens of thousands of jobs. Looking at the future, we should be keeping our foot on the accelerator and not unnecessarily slamming on the brakes.

Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by Tom Kowalski, former president and CEO of the Texas Healthcare and Bioscience Institute in Austin. He is also co-chair of We Work For Health, a group which says it supports policies and initiatives that foster innovation and facilitate the delivery of lifesaving and life-enhancing medicines.