Archive for December 2023

Legislation (HB 4167) to establish a Rare Disease Advisory Council (RDAC) in Michigan were progressing nicely through the summer following overwhelming bipartisan passage by the full House. A RDAC would empower rare disease patients as partners in helping to shape policy development relevant to the unmet needs, common struggles, and concerns on equitable, quality, and…

SB 148 and SB 149, sponsored by Sen. Polehanki and Sen. Hertel, respectively, sought to regulate the use/disposition of animals in research including mandatory reporting on numbers of animals owned, used, and released by research facilities, mandatory requirement for adoption of research animals post-use, and other restrictions and penalties. The legislation arose after an outcry…

SB 483, SB 484 and SB 485 were introduced in mid-September 2023 that would establish a new state board – a so-called Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) – that would determine how much pharmaceutical companies can charge for certain drugs by setting an “upper price limit”. According to PDAB supporters, such a body would lower…

Early fall 2023 saw a package of bills introduced that would reestablish a state research & development R&D) tax credit in Michigan – HBs 5099, 5100, 5101 and 5102. Ever since Michigan moved from the Michigan Business Tax regime to the current Corporate Income Tax regime twelve years ago, Michigan taxpayers have not been afforded…

The America Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act of 2023 or HB 2673 was reintroduced that would repeal current rules and allow a business to deduct of R&D costs in the tax year that they occur and thereby incentivize long-term investments in innovation. Such repeal has been a top policy priority for MichBio and the bio-industry generally…

On December 7, the Biden Administration announced new efforts intended to lower prescription drug costs. While the announcement includes broader initiatives, one component would allow invoking March-In rights under the Bayh-Dole Act to license the patent rights of drugs to other biopharmaceutical manufacturers when the price of the drug is deemed to be too high. MichBio has grave…

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) released new merger guidelines that have implications for the life sciences industry. The new guidelines may give regulators more ammunition to go after vertical and cross-market M&A that has historically been more difficult to challenge. Private equity “roll-ups” of multiple companies may also face heightened scrutiny. The…