Senator Sanders Introduces Two Medical Innovation Prize Bills in U.S. Senate to De-link R&D Costs From Drug Prices

On Thursday, May 26, 2011, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced two bills in the United States Senate that would de-link R&D costs from drug prices. The bill names and numbers are as follows:

• The Medical Innovation Prize Fund Act: S. 1137
• The Prize Fund for HIV/AIDS Act: S. 1138

Both bills would eliminate all legal barriers to the manufacture and sale of generic versions of drugs and vaccines. The more ambitious bill is the Medical Innovation Prize Fund Act, which would apply to all prescription drugs. The narrower proposal is the Prize Fund for HIV/AIDS Act, which would only apply to treatments for HIV/AIDS. The Medical Innovation Prize Fund would create a prize fund equal of .55 percent of US GDP, which is more than $80 billion per year at current levels of U.S. GDP. The HIV/AID Prize Fund would be funded at .02 percent of U.S. GDP, which is about $3 billion per year at current levels of U.S. GDP.