Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America

File:PhRMA Logo.jpg

Logo of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), founded in 1958, is a trade group representing the pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies in the United States. PhRMA's stated mission is advocacy for public policies that encourage the discovery of new medicines for patients by pharmaceutical and biotechnology research companies. PhRMA's current CEO is John J. Castellani.

Mission

On its website, PhRMA states its "mission is winning advocacy for public policies that encourage the discovery of life-saving and life-enhancing new medicines for patients by pharmaceutical / biotechnology research companies. To accomplish this mission, PhRMA is dedicated to achieving in Washington, D.C., the states and the world:

• "Broad patient access to safe and effective medicines through a free market, without price controls,
• "Strong intellectual property incentives, and
• "Transparent, efficient, regulation and a free flow of information to patients."

Leadership

Chris Viehbacher

Chris Viehbacher is the Chairman of PhRMA's board of directors. Since 2008 Viehbacher has also served as CEO of Sanofi-Aventis. He was born on 26 March 1960. He holds both German and Canadian nationalities. Viebacher is a certified public accountant. He graduated from Queens University in Canada.

John J. Castellani

Main article: John J. Castellani

John J. Castellani is President and CEO of PhRMA. Castellani has promised that PhRMA will continue to support healthcare reform efforts in the United States and abroad. Specifically, PhRMA will focus on helping to successfully implement and improve the health reform legislation passed in 2010 under President Obama with a particular emphasis on rewarding innovation. Jeffrey Kindler, the chairman of Pfizer and former chairman of PhRMA, when commenting on Castellani's move from the Business Roundtable to PhRMA, said, “John is the gold standard, and I’m extremely pleased that he will lead our team." Mr. Castellani succeeds Billy Tauzin, a former Republican congressman from Louisiana.

Issues

Counterfeit drugs

Main article: Counterfeit drugs

According to PhRMA, far fewer counterfeit medications reach the market in the United States than in Europe and other jurisdictions. PhRMA says that in 2008, seizures of counterfeit medications rose 118 percent in the European Union (EU) and that drugs ostensibly to treat diseases such as hypertension, osteoporosis, high cholesterol, cancer, and malaria were among those seized. PhRMA points out that in one two-month period alone in 2008 roughly 34 million counterfeit pills were seized at EU borders. The United States is experiencing fewer problems in this area due to the closed nature of the drug supply system in the United States.

During the 1980s, when the American drug supply system was relatively open to foreign medicines, many women fell victim to counterfeit or poor quality birth control pills and became pregnant. After careful investigation, it was discovered that these pills were of foreign origin. Congress passed the Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA). The PDMA effectively closed the drug supply system to prevent foreign counterfeit medications from harming American patients.

Unfortunately, according to PhRMA, criminals around the world are using increasingly sophisticated methods such as creating websites posing as those of legitimate pharmacies in order to sell unapproved and counterfeit medications, often without prescriptions. PhRMA says that efforts by the American government, pharmaceutical companies, and other players in the healthcare industry have helped protect Americans against counterfeit drugs but that additional action should be taken.

In a recent report to Vice President Joe Biden and Congress, the Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Inter-Agency Working Group stated that, “it is difficult to quantify the harm caused globally by counterfeit drugs, it is clear they pose a significant and growing threat to health at both the individual and the community levels, potentially causing treatment failure or death...” The report gave detailed examples of the threat: An American company’s vaccine for pneumococcal bacteria sold in El Salvador was missing the active ingredient and counterfeits of two cancer drugs were illegally manufactured in China and Indonesia and lacked a critical active ingredient necessary to treat cancer. The Working Group recommended increasing the jail sentence for criminals caught selling counterfeit drugs. The average prison sentence for counterfeiters is three years but PhRMA supports a minimum sentence of 20 years.

Disaster response

In response to the lessons learned during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, In 2006 PhRMA coordinated the creation of Rx Response. Rx Response is a unitary point of contact and robust network of partners aimed at helping emergency responders and public health officials communicate needs during natural disasters, terrorist attacks, or pandemics. Rx Response supports the continued flow of medications and other supplies to those in need by serving as a forum for problem solving and information sharing. Members of Rx Response continually monitor news media across the United States to identify potential threats to public health and engage Rx Response to ensure a timely relief effort. Rx Response continues to develop ways for partners to share information internally and with the general public. These include InfoCenter, Rx Response's online information-sharing forum, and the Pharmacy Status Reporting Tool, which allows those in affected areas to find the closest open pharmacy during a public health emergency.

The Rx Response Coordinating Body meets when a severe public health emergency emerges. In addition to PhRMA, the body’s membership includes the American Hospital Association, American Red Cross, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, the Healthcare Distribution Management Association, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, and the National Community Pharmacists Association.

Doha

Main article: Doha Declaration

PhRMA has worked to minimize the effect of the Doha Declaration by the Doha round of negotiations. The Doha Declaration issued in November 2001, indicated that TRIPs should not prevent states from dealing with public health crises. The health crises specifically addressed by the declaration include the AIDS epidemic.

Depression in the workplace

In June 2004, PhRMA teamed up with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Psychiatric Association "to demonstrate the cost of depression in the workplace and to show employers that treating affected workers would improve the bottom line." The three groups endorsed a "depression calculator," which allows employers to estimate the effect of untreated depression on their company's profits, through absenteeism and low productivity. The calculator also figures "how much the business would save if employees were treated." The Arizona-based "health-care consulting firm" The HSM Group organized the calculator's public "introduction." At the press conference unveiling the calculator, PhRMA's senior vice president for policy, research and strategic planning, Richard Smith, said: "A depressed employee is less productive or absent for 30 to 50 days a year. ... The person's medical costs are $2,000 to $3,000 more than other employees."

Programs for patients

SMARxT Disposal

SMARxT Disposal is a joint program run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the American Pharmacists Association, and PhRMA to encourage consumers to properly dispose of unused medicines in order to avoid harm to the environment.

Partnership for Prescription Assistance

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is a program by PhRMA and its member companies that connects patients in-need with information on low-cost and free prescription medication.

Members

Some prominent members of PhRMA include the following. A full list of members is available at the PhRMA website.

• AstraZeneca
• Bayer
• Boehringer Ingelheim
• Bristol-Myers Squibb
• Eli Lilly and Company
• Genzyme Corporation
• GlaxoSmithKline
• Merck
• Novartis
• Pfizer
• Sanofi-Aventis

See also

• European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA, USA)
• International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA)
• International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH)
• Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (JPMA)
• Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention and Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme
• SAFE-BioPharma Association (SAFE)

External links

• Official website