NCBIO Blog
Stay up to date with the latest from NCBIO
Recent Posts
The rarest day on the calendar is the one that does not even occur in every year: February 29. In 2008, this was designated as Rare Disease Day and since then, the last day of February has been an opportunity to draw attention to, honor and support people living with these conditions.
Read MoreThe World Trade Organization is considering continuing to waive certain intellectual property rights on COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics, following a recent decision to do the same for vaccines.
Read MoreEvery member of the Council of State Bioscience Associations signed a letter to President Joe Biden expressing serious concerns with the proposed expansion of IP protections for COVID technology.
Read MoreCongress passed the Inflation Reduction Act on Aug. 12. Included in the law is a provision that gives Medicare Part D the ability to “negotiate” the price of medicines for the first time. Negotiate is in quotation marks because lawmakers are being ironic; no one can legitimately call the new price-setting policy a negotiation.
Read MoreOn April 7, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services held to its original decision to limit coverage of the Biogen’s Alzheimer’s disease treatment Aduhelm – along with other drugs like it – to clinical trials. Michelle McMurry-Heath, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, released the following statement: “The National Coverage…
Read MoreThe biotech and life sciences industry is coming together to donate a range of critical medical supplies, equipment, and medications to the people of Ukraine. “The conflict in Ukraine and violence from Russia defies international law, norms and modern sensibilities,“ said BIO President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath. “Unfortunately, those suffering the most are individuals…
Read MoreNCBIO stands in solidarity with patient advocates and industry leaders in opposing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ draft proposal to restrict coverage for current and future Alzheimer’s drugs targeting beta amyloid, a known hallmark of the disease. Restricting coverage is a bad idea for so many reasons: CMS is competing directly with the…
Read MoreDoes government spending on drug development justify government price controls on medicines? Not when the private sector spends $102 billion on clinical R&D and the NIH spends less than $3 billion.
Read MoreThe ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical role of the North Carolina life sciences industry in battling our most serious public health threats. When faced with the threat of COVID-19, biotechnology companies – many based right here in North Carolina – answered the call and quickly developed safe and effective vaccines,…
Read MoreA serious approach to addressing climate change must include the proactive elimination of unnecessary paper consumption. Paper is an important and useful material that should be produced and consumed in a responsible and sustainable way, and the existence of digital options that can be utilized safely and effectively should lead to the elimination of outdated…
Read More