Biotech industry facing closer scrutiny

Florida weighs in...

and new Jersey gets a mantion...'cause we're talking about regulations...

Biotechnology as an industry is growing, but with its higher profile has come greater scrutiny from government, which also is one of its biggest customers.

Industry lobbyists meeting here Wednesday on the second and final day of the 10th annual BioFlorida conference outlined the increased regulatory activity biotech companies are running into from federal and state governments.

Forty-six states, including Florida, enacted "anti-industry" legislation last year, said Christopher Badgley, vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

The industry faces drug-price controls, limits on patient access to new treatments, drug-safety concerns, mounting clinical-trial disclosure rules and changes to intellectual-property laws, he said.

"Public policy is often emotion-based. It has less to do with what's the best policy and more with what gets (officials) elected," he said.

According to the lobbyists, New Jersey's attorney general has formed a task force to investigate compensation drug and biotech companies pay to some doctors who test new treatments. In Washington state, the legislature established a board to review a new medical technology or treatment and to recommend whether it should be supported by state employee health coverage.

link to full article