Incubate Leads Media Coverage of Trump's Pill Penalty Executive Order

President Trump recently issued an executive order urging officials in his administration to work with Congress and end the pill penalty in Medicare drug price negotiations, which discourages investment and research into small molecule medicines.

Incubate's executive director John Stanford spoke to reporters at several news outlets about the order and what comes next in the push to end the pill penalty.

Bloomberg Law:

Incubate Coalition, an organization representing venture capital firms, has also pushed for a reset on the negotiations, arguing that the pill penalty will harm return on investments.

"We're grateful that the president and his team understands that the small molecule penalty is hurting Americans' health," said John Stanford, executive director of Incubate.

BioCentury:

Industry lobbyists believe the executive order gives them leverage to overcome resistance.

The order is a "clear signal to Republicans that as reconciliation moves forward this has the blessing of the White House," John Stanford, executive director of the Incubate Coalition, an advocacy organization representing investors, told BioCentury.

Having the president pushing for inclusion in reconciliation is "the biggest tailwind you can have," he said. "Reconciliation is the most logical train out of the station right now. That's how

we see it, and we believe how the Hill sees it as well."

BioWorld:

John Stanford, executive director of the Incubate Coalition, told BioWorld in March that about $8 billion more than expected in investment funding had shifted toward biologics and 87% of venture capitalists responding to a recent survey expressed less interest in investing in small molecules because of the IRA's pill penalty.

Consequently, the difficulty in funding small-molecule development has led to nearly 50 R&D programs being dropped and the discontinuation of 24 drugs, according to Incubate's Life Sciences Investment Tracker.

Endpoints News:

The industry has called for changes since the IRA was signed, but Congress would have to pass a law to do so. One avenue could be the budget reconciliation legislation lawmakers are working on, which is likely to contain Trump's must-pass tax cuts. John Stanford, executive director of the venture capital advocacy group Incubate, told Endpoints News yesterday that Trump's "blessing is a great add, helping ensure it makes it to the negotiating table for reconciliation."