Healthcare changes could destroy Illinois' vibrant life science sector

University of Illinois researchers just developed a potent “smart bomb” drug that attacks a deadly form of childhood cancer. The therapy targets defective genes and directs them to “self-destruct” without affecting nearby healthy cells.

Medical innovations like this take place in the Prairie State all the time. But Illinois' drug industry is now in a vulnerable position. Some lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have put forward a series of proposals that could wreck pharmaceutical firms' ability to create new cures. To protect patients and Illinois workers, our leaders must ensure these proposals are scrapped.

Illinois is home to more than 3,500 biotech firms and over 400 active clinical trials. The Chicago-based AbbVie recently gained federal approval for Duopa, a drug that treats tremors and muscle rigidity in patients with Parkinson's disease. Northbrook-based Marathon Pharmaceuticals just received approval to fast track the development of a new therapy for a fatal disease called “Duchenne Muscle Dystrophy,” which causes muscle fibers to wither.

The innovative drugs resulting from this work help patients all across the country live longer, healthier lives. Americans' life expectancy has increased by a full decade since the 1950s. Disability among the elderly has fallen by more than a fifth since 1984.

Patients with cancer have made significant strides thanks to these advanced therapies. The national cancer death rate has fallen by 20 percent since 1991. That's great news for the 65,000 Illinoisans who will receive a cancer diagnosis this year.

The fight against HIV/AIDS is perhaps the most telling example of the incredible contribution drug innovation makes to human health. Just a few decades ago, contracting HIV was a death sentence. Today, thanks to novel combination therapies, patients enjoy near-normal life spans and can live healthy, productive lives. Overall, the U.S. HIV/AIDS death rate has fallen by 85 percent since it peaked in 1995.

Drug development also boosts the economy. Illinois biopharmaceutical firms have fostered more than 11,000 relationships with local vendors. These businesses provide biotech firms with everything from sanitation services to IT support. Biopharmaceutical companies' annual vendor spending is over $9 billion and helps support more than 160,000 Illinois jobs.

Unfortunately, some policymakers in Washington are pushing measures that would severely undermine Illinois' drug sector.

One of these measures, which is included in the president's budget for the coming year, would remove coverage for expensive treatment options and require mandatory rebates from pharmaceutical companies in Medicare Part D — the federal prescription drug benefit for seniors and patients with disabilities.

This interference would surely backfire. A recent Tufts study noted that, on average, biotech firms spend a stunning $2.56 billion to develop a new drug. If drug developers can't earn back their considerable investments due to Part D rebates, they won't have an incentive to create new medicines.

There is also legislative movement to degrade patent protections. Specifically, some officials want to make it harder for patent owners to file lawsuits against violators who steal their ideas.

This proposal is meant to eliminate trivial lawsuits, but it would also make it harder for biopharmaceutical companies to defend their drug designs in court.

If the measure becomes law, biopharmaceutical firms won't risk billions researching new cures if they can't prevent a competitor from swooping in, creating a knock-off medication, and hurting sales. By forcing life sciences companies to cut back on research and development, the proposed changes to patent laws will deprive patients of new treatments.

Illinois' biotech firms power local economic growth and create new weapons in the ongoing fight against disease. Prairie State lawmakers shouldn't allow misguided federal proposals to erode that hard-won progress.

Joseph Gaspero, of Chicago, is president and co-founder of the Center for Healthcare Innovation, an independent institute dedicated to increasing understanding of health care issues.