In response to the growing strain that medicines are placing on state budgets, a California committee Tuesday is expected to vote on a bill that would require drug makers to reveal their costs. The goal is to force the pharmaceutical industry to provide some transparency into the overall pricing process.
Known as the Pharmaceutical Cost Transparency Act, the bill seeks a plethora of information about any drug that has a price tag of more than $10,000 a year. This includes costs for clinical trials; ingredients; research and development; and production and marketing. And if a medicine had been acquired from another company, those same expenses incurred by the previous owner would also have to be reported.
These various costs would have to be reported to the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, which would then compile an annual report that would be submitted to the state legislature and released publicly. However, the information submitted by drug makers would be audited by an independent third party and certain data would be kept confidential.
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