October 2, 2024

As the Legislature continues its fall session, several committees have convened, with a few notable bills being introduced or discussed.

• A1884 (Conaway/Stanley/Speight) - Establishes act of disseminating misinformation as professional misconduct for health care professionals.
• A3577 (Collazos-Gill/Inganamort/Sumter) - Provides CBT credit for the development of anaerobic digestion facilities that process food waste.
• A4148 (Lampitt/Conaway/Speight) - Requires DOH to develop informational materials on type 1 diabetes and DOE to distribute to parents and guardians of enrolled students.
• This bill passed the Assembly unanimously last week and is now being considered in the Senate with Senator McKnight as its prime sponsor (S3057).
• A4578 (Schnall/Speight) - Requires DOH to prepare a comprehensive plan to invest in the State's public health system.
• A4596 (Hutchison/Collazos-Gill/Reynolds-Jackson) - Requires DOH to establish partnerships with certain entities to improve emergency response to public health crisis.
• A4810 (Greenwald) - Requires NJ Family Care reimbursement for comprehensive medication management services provided for certain children by licensed pharmacist.
• A4838 (Pintor Marin) - Requires prescription drug coverage for serious mental illness without prior authorization or utilization management, including step therapy.
• This bill was introduced in the Assembly last week, while the Senate version has moved through one committee and is currently referred to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee (SBA).

Next week, the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens (SHH) Committee will meet, and the following bills will be among those considered:

• S1213 (Beach) - Prohibits pharmacies from charging additional fee for processing prescriptions transmitted by telephone or electronic means.
• S2988 (Gopal/Pou) - Extends certain pay parity regarding telemedicine and telehealth for one additional year.

Following her recent electoral victory, Congresswoman LaMonica McIver (D, NJ10) assumed the seat previously occupied by longtime Congressman Donald Payne Jr. Rep. McIver has served as the President of the Newark Municipal Council since 2022 and member of the Council since 2018. New Jersey’s 10th congressional district has been represented by a member of the Payne Family since 1989. Rep. McIver’s election to the House represents the youngest congresswoman in New Jersey’s history and the second Black congresswoman following Rep. Watson Coleman (D, NJ12), joining the State’s congressional delegation in 2015.

While Rep. McIver is currently the newest member of the U.S. House, she is anticipated to win reelection in November’s nationwide election given the magnitude of her electoral victory in the special election — and will therefore have a bit more seniority.

Last week, an article published in Biocentury confronts the perspectives that a member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation has expressed regarding the Rare Pediatric Priority Review Voucher (PPRV) program. Congressman Pallone (D, NJ6), Ranking Member of the crucial House Energy and Commerce Committee, recently accused the PPRV program of being misused to be redeemed for me-too drugs — proposing an amendment that would have caused the program’s vouchers essentially worthless. Fortunately, the amendment was abandoned.

The article notes how the PPRV program has represented a lifeline for children suffering from rare diseases, and highlights a recent study conducted by the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) that analyzed data through April 2024. NORD found that 54 PRVs have been awarded for treatments for 40 rare pediatric diseases. Only three of these diseases already had an FDA-approved treatment prior to the creation of the PPRV program.

Last week, the House passed the Give Kids a Chance Act by a voice vote, and the bill included reauthorization of the PPRV program. This follows the inclusion of a short extension of the program in a continuing resolution until December 20.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee (HELP) was slated to consider a bill that would reauthorize the program last Thursday, but the hearing has been postponed. The Committee was also slated to consider several other relevant bills, including the Biosimilar Red Tape Elimination Act (S. 2305) and Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act (S. 2780).

BioNJ will continue to convey the virtues of the PPRV program, and particularly how it has ultimately redounded to the benefit of young people confronting rare diseases.

To read the article in Biocentury, click here.

To read the PPRV study conducted by NORD, click here.

On September 20, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced action brought against the three largest prescription drug benefit managers (PBMs). The suit includes Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx — as well as their affiliated group purchasing organizations — for engaging in anticompetitive and unfair rebating practices that artificially inflate list prices.

The FTC “alleges that the three PBMs created a perverse drug rebate system that prioritizes high rebates from drug manufacturers, leading to artificially inflated insulin list prices. The complaint charges that even when lower list price insulins became available that could have been more affordable for vulnerable patients, the PBMs systemically excluded them in favor of high list price, highly rebated insulin products.”

To read the FTC announcement, click here.

Mentioning the American Cancer Society – Cancer Action Network, as well as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Governor Phil Murphy issued a proclamation last month to recognize the month of September as Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma Awareness Month.

To read the proclamation, click here.

Last week, Ian McLaughlin, VP of Government Affairs at BioNJ, joined a panel discussion with the Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association (SAPA) to discuss the state of affairs for the life sciences in New Jersey. Joined by representatives of several companies with significant footprints in New Jersey, as well as a representative of the Middlesex County Government, the unique advantages that the State presents to both emerging and established biopharmaceutical companies were conveyed to SAPA attendees.

BioNJ is glad to have had the opportunity to characterize the industry that we are proud to represent, and we look forward to continued partnership with SAPA.

Left to right: Chenchao Gao, Ph.D., SAPA/Daiichi Sankyo; Ian McLaughlin, Ph.D., BioNJ; Sho Islam, Director of the Office of Business Engagement, Middlesex County Government; Moushmi Culver, MBA, SVP Manufacturing Strategy, BD, Alliances, Shared Services, Network & Third-Party Sales, Merck; Simon King, Chief People Officer, Daiichi Sankyo; Rong Yang, MBA, Fosun Pharma USA.

BioNJ is the voice of New Jersey’s life sciences sector in Trenton and Washington. BioNJ’s Public Policy Support Series sponsorship opportunities are now available for 2024. Help ensure BioNJ continues to deliver our message of improved Patient access and enhanced innovation through a Public Policy Support Series Sponsorship.  

Click here for more information.

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