The Hidden Impact of Drug Pricing on Government Clinical Trials

In a recent video interview with Applied Clinical Trials, Ron Lanton, partner, Lanton Law, discussed the impact of drug cost increases on clinical research, predicting a reduction in government-sponsored trials due to higher R&D costs and potential funding cuts. Lanton also touched on FDA inspection cuts and how they are expected to slow down the clinical trial supply chain, leading to longer approval times and reduced site readiness.

ACT: How would a potential increase in drug costs affect the clinical research industry?

Lanton: I think most likely it would reduce government sponsored clinical trials and not the industry sponsored clinical trials. You go back to the Sovaldi incident in 2013 where there was this huge drug price increase on that one drug, and everybody's like, “Oh my god.” And they were like, “Oh, well, the reason we did is because of better science,” and it's kind of the same reason here. Pharma has always said that increased drug prices are the result of higher R&D cost and better outcomes, so it's the same argument just presented here. I think if a drug increases for any other reason, the manufacturer would just simply pass that on and just add that cost into its market price, but I don't think this is the case for any government sponsored clinical trials. We've already seen cuts in research from the administration, and I think it's likely that HHS could use the issue of drug price increases as a way to further cut the funding for this. That's what I foresee.