The following can be attributed to Tony Bennett, president & CEO of the Texas Association of Manufacturers.

“With the Senate poised to vote on the Reconciliation bill soon, Texas manufacturers remain deeply concerned about the impact of the drug pricing provisions on our state’s vibrant biopharmaceutical industry and the Texans who benefit from these jobs, investments, and life-saving cures.

“In no uncertain terms, the Medicare ‘negotiations’ as proposed are tantamount to government price-setting of medicines. Such a dramatic shift in federal policy will chill venture capital investments and put patient access at risk.[1],[2]

“In the tumultuous economic times we are now in, the biotechnology sector is down more than 50%, and this proposed government drug price-setting scheme that Congress is now considering will inject additional uncertainty in the marketplace and curtail investments in new life-saving medicines.

“We urge Senator John Cornyn, Senator Ted Cruz, and their colleagues to roundly reject this government price-setting proposal and look instead for ways to better manage healthcare costs while spurring new investment in the biopharmaceutical industry.”

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The Texas Association of Manufacturers (TAM) actively represents the interests and priorities of more than 600 member companies in Austin and in Washington, D.C. Manufacturers in Texas account for 13.07 percent of the total output in the state – more than $241 billion in 2019 – and employ more than 881,000 Texans in jobs that pay an average compensation of over $90,100 annually. On average, each manufacturing job created also provides 5 additional jobs in our communities. For two decades, Texas remains the number one exporting state for manufactured goods in the United States. Follow TAM on Facebook and Twitter.

Media contact: Gretchen Fox, 512-694-4326