fotohunter-shutterstock-com-biopharma-
fotohunter / Shutterstock.com
8 November 2016Americas

US government official outlines CMS approach to innovation

A US official has spoken about the approach that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken towards innovation in the past year.

Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of CMS, spoke on November 3 at the BioPharma Congress in Washington, DC.

The BioPharma Congress is a conference hosted by healthcare policy company Prevision Policy and Friends of Cancer Research, and drives collaboration between partners in the healthcare sector.

This year’s Congress saw delegates discuss issues in the biopharmaceutical sector.

CMS, a federal agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services, administers Medicare, a social insurance programme, and Medicaid, which is a social healthcare programme.

In his speech, Slavitt said: “I’d like to start by stepping back and discussing what we’re trying to accomplish in the innovation space.”

He outlined four ways in which CMS is supporting innovation and research and development in the biopharmaceutical industry.

These included investing in research, supporting clinical trials, shortening the wait for innovative products, and maintaining affordability while pushing innovation.

Slavitt added that CMS is looking for more ways to invest in research.

“I’ve been a proud member of vice president [Joe] Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Task Force, which worked to break down barriers between the research community, the federal government, community oncologists, and other innovators on processes to address the full range of issues impacting breakthrough medical discoveries,” he said.

The Cancer Moonshot Task Force was set up by the US government in January this year, and its aim is to focus on mechanisms to support cancer research, and enable progress in treatment and care.

Additionally, Slavitt said that he has established a “tri-lateral leadership” with the deputy commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration’s office of medical products and tobacco, Robert Califf, and Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health.

“We’re a sleeper group, but hope to establish critical ties that can eventually create a single front door to research safety, efficacy, coverage, and pricing—with appropriate firewalls and safeguards.

“Together we’re making it a priority to figure out how to coordinate in ways that advance product development,” he added.


More on this story

article
25 October 2022   The firm has strengthened its Sheffield office with a senior patent attorney who joins from GlaxoSmithKline.

More on this story

article
25 October 2022   The firm has strengthened its Sheffield office with a senior patent attorney who joins from GlaxoSmithKline.