Competition is an essential part of running a business — but not for some pharmaceutical companies.
The Senate Aging Committee just released a report where it looked at the practices of several drug companies that bought the rights to prescription medications and then increased the price by hundreds of dollars per dose — just because they could. They managed to do this because those particular drugs were for rare conditions and had only one manufacturer. So they didn’t have any competition in the market. And there weren’t enough patients to effectively complain when prices went up.
For small businesses, entering the pharmaceutical game can be a difficult and complicated process. The application fees alone can be cost-prohibitive for many small companies. And this is one of the factors that has led to a lack of competition in certain parts of the market.
Patients Reap the Benefits of Competition in the Pharmaceutical Industry
But because of those recent findings about certain companies jacking up prices, that could change. Sen. Susan Collins recently proposed legislation that would waive application fees for small companies that want to manufacture certain types of drugs in an effort to spur more companies to compete. It would enable patients to reap the benefits of competition in the pharmaceutical industry. So it’s possible that it could soon be a bit easier for small businesses to break into an industry they were effectively priced out of due to fees and regulations.
Chem Lab Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “It Could Soon Be Easier for Small Businesses to Break Into the Pharmaceutical Industry (Watch)” was first published on Small Business Trends