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Bill To Reduce Prescription Drug Prices Passes Assembly, How Would It Work?

Assembly Bill 824, legislation that is intended to put the brakes on rising drug prices in California by allowing more generic drugs to enter the marketplace, passed through the Assembly on Friday. 

AB 824, authored by Democratic Assemblyman Jim Wood of Santa Rosa in cooperation with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, would prohibit what are being called "pay-to-delay" agreements with which a pharmaceutical companies can transfer anything of value to delay a competitor's research, marketing, or sale of a competing version of its drug.

Drug manufacturers use pay-to-delay agreements to block competitors from manufacturing or marketing lower-cost versions of their drugs, according to the organization RunawayRX.

"(Friday’s) passage of AB 824 is an encouraging step forward in the fight against skyrocketing drug prices. The bill will bring more generic drugs into the marketplace and improve the affordability of prescription drugs for all Californians," said RunawayRx spokesperson Mary Ellen Grant. "Prescription drugs are a major driver of health care costs, and this bill will allow the Attorney General to crack down on the unfair pay-to-delay tactics drug companies are using to game the system and the American people."


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