Photo by Steven Harbour
Prescription drugs
A group of US health systems is planning to form a not-for-profit generic drug company with the goal of ending drug shortages and reducing prices for patients.
The company will either directly manufacture generic drugs or subcontract manufacturing to organizations it deems reputable.
“For people in the United States, there is a dangerous gap today between the demand and supply of affordable prescription drugs,” said Richard J. Gilfillan, MD, chief executive officer of Trinity Health, one of the health systems involved in this project.
“If the only way to provide our communities with affordable drugs is to produce them ourselves, then that is what we will do. We look forward to more healthcare systems around the country joining this people-centered effort.”
The organizations involved in this project include Intermountain Healthcare, Ascension, SSM Health, and Trinity Health, as well as the US Department of Veterans Affairs (although the department has not provided financial support for the project).
The 5 organizations represent more than 450 hospitals around the US, and other health systems are set to join the initiative as well.
“It’s an ambitious plan, but healthcare systems are in the best position to fix the problems in the generic drug market,” said Marc Harrison, MD, president and chief executive officer of Intermountain Healthcare.
“We witness, on a daily basis, how shortages of essential generic medications or egregious cost increases for those same drugs affect our patients. We are confident we can improve the situation for our patients by bringing much-needed competition to the generic drug market.”
The formation of this not-for-profit generic drug company will be guided by an advisory committee, which will include:
- Madhu Balachandran, retired executive vice-president of Global Operations, Amgen
- Don Berwick, MD, president emeritus and senior fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement; former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator
- Clayton Christensen, professor at Harvard Business School and founder of Innosight
- Bob Kerrey, managing director, Allen & Company; former Nebraska governor and US senator
- Martin VanTrieste, retired senior vice-president and chief quality officer, Amgen
- Senior-level leaders from the organizations founding the company.
