WASHINGTON -- Marta Ockuly was a week away from gaining health insurance at her new job in Sarasota, Fla., when she was diagnosed with a devastating form of cancer. She quickly began chemotherapy, which drove her leukemia into remission but weakened her body's immune system so much that she required shots of a new kind of drug, made using biotechnology.
Ockuly credits the biotech drug, Neupogen, with helping save her life four years ago, but wishes there had been a generic alternative available for less than the $1,000-a-shot she says hers cost. The high cost of drugs and treatment drove Ockuly to bankruptcy. "It pretty much would have wiped anybody out," said Ockuly, who now counsels cancer patients for the Wellness Community, an international support group.
The high cost of health care is back at the top of Washington's agenda. While President Bush in his State of the Union speech this week recommended changing the tax code to curb spending on health care, Democrats are expected to propose paving the way for cheaper, generic versions of biotech drugs.
Biotech drugs are the fastest-growing category of medicines, treating ailments from heart disease to rheumatoid arthritis.
Biotech drugs are more complicated to make than traditional medicines, so they tend to cost more, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars for a year's prescription. Among the most popular are insulin and human growth hormone.
Democrats argue that generic versions would slash these prices, just as the 23-year-old federal law that fostered production of copies of traditional drugs has done.
"Legislation is essential to keep the new generation of life-saving drugs affordable," Rep. Henry A. Waxman, a California Democrat, said through a spokeswoman. Waxman, who sponsored a law with Utah Republican Sen. Orrin G. Hatch governing generic versions of traditional drugs, called passage of a similar bill for biotech drugs "one of my highest legislative priorities."
But powerful pharmaceutical companies argue that the government would be moving too quickly if it authorized sales of generic biotech drugs.
James C. Greenwood, president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, is telling lawmakers that the legislation would deter drug makers from developing innovative biotech drugs by removing financial incentives. Greenwood also warns that the science hasn't advanced far enough to copy biotech drugs safely.
