Tuesday Luncheon & Keynote Address

Senator Arlen Specter, R-PA spoke about the successes of the biotech industry from his perspective as both a Senator and as a Hodgkin's Disease patient.

Sen. Specter said he wants to bring more money for research funding to Pennsylvania and the nation, and is hopeful that he may become appropriations chairman, though it all depends on party control. As appropriations chair, he said, he would enact a top-to-bottom reform of how money is disbursed, something he says that Congress has never attempted.

Sen. Specter would like to add $5.2 billion in funding to NIH - a move that would return the NIH's level of funding back to where it was before budget cuts. He thinks the Obama administration will be friendlier to health care funding

"It is repugnant that an opportunity for scientific advancement was rejected due to idealogical reasons," said Sen. Specter, who is sure that Congress will authorize the use of federal funds for research on embryonic stem cells. With President-elect Obama's support, he said, they'll pass it a third time and it will be signed instead of vetoed as in the current administration.

Jeff Libson, Corporate and Securities Partner, Pepper Hamilton LLP, said he is confident that the scientific community will make great strides in defeating disease. The Pennsylvania-New Jersey area is a vital part of the life sciences industry that helps fuel the region - and the country's - economy.

Keynote speaker Frank Baldino, Jr., Ph.D., Chairman & CEO, Cephalon, Inc. spoke about America's healthcare policies are about to undergo tremendous change, said Baldino, who believes the time for action has arrived. These changes will affect every aspect of the biotech industry, which he believes will be impacted heavily by the first 100 days of the new administration. There are currently 1300 pieces of legislation circulating among America's state capitals that would change the way the biotech industry does business.

How did the biotech industry become a target for change? Baldino thinks it's because the companies have lost their connection with the patients - even his own mother criticizes him for the high prices of prescription drugs. The biggest problem, he believes, is one of access, with fewer and fewer people with the means to afford drugs - and he recommends that Pharma reconnects with patients in ways other than direct-to-consumer advertising.

"We need to become a trusted health care resource rather than a product manufacturer," said Baldino. "Products need to be practical and address the needs of patients...and it's our responsibility to do this."

The pressures of the payor system are also contributing to the squeeze on patients. The payors and pharma need to work together to reduce health care expenditures for patients. Ten percent of every health care dollar is spent on pharmaceuticals - which most Americans view as too much. Pharma needs to prove that these expenditures vastly improve the quality of life for patients.

Pharma, says Baldino, needs to become more transparent to gain the trust of patients, health care providers, and policymakers. Change must be imparted on to the pharmaceutical business model. With a system in place where most drugs have 12-year path to the market with a 2% chance that the drug will be approved, pharma must change direction and revolutionize the approach to business. Emerging markets will be key to any pharma success.

Pharma, he said, must move from mere marketers of drugs to the purveyors of healthcare solutions.

By Danielle Kozich on behalf of Pennsylvania Bio

I apologize if there are any errors in this post; I am a layperson and many of these terms are out of my field of expertise.