Get Generic Drugs to Market Faster

In late April, Patrick Leahy, a Democratic senator, and Tom Marino, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, introduced legislation to promote timely access to low-cost, high-quality generic drugs. Passing this bipartisan CREATES Act is one important way for Congress to push back against soaring prescription drug prices in the U.S.

Since 2014, net retail prescription drug prices have risen 10 percent annually, primarily driven by ever higher launch prices and more frequent markups on brand-name drugs. From 2008 to 2016, the average net price for the most commonly used brand-name retail drugs rose more than 200 percent. The average list price of a new oral anti-cancer drug now exceeds $130,000 per year.