BETHESDA, Md. _ The National Task Force on AIDS DrugDevelopment is moving ahead with a short list of policyrecommendations it hopes will give biotechnology manufacturersappropriate incentives to speed the development of AIDS drugs.

In its second day of deliberations, the panel on Wednesday putbehind it the often contentious discussions about what, if any,incentives should be handed biotech firms.

In a startling turnabout to the previous day when the biotech industrywas often severely criticized for seeking incentives, the task forceagreed that it should ally with pharma and biotech manufacturers toincrease the task force's lobbying clout with Congress.

Policy recommendations now under development will be voted on bythe panel at its June meeting and forwarded to Health and HumanServices Secretary Donna Shalala for action.

Ensuring adequate reimbursement and coverage by fee-for-serviceand managed care plans are the task force's policy objectives.Specific language will be developed by the panel with assistancefrom members of the Biotechnology Industry Organization and thePharmaceutical Research Manufacturers of America.

David Beier, South San Francisco-based Genentech Inc.'s vicepresident for government affairs, participated in the task force'sdiscussions as a representative of the biotech industry and will beamong those helping to draft the policy objectives.

Beier told the task force that "one of the biggest incentives forcompanies is to have a stable environment." Biotech firms and AIDSpatients, he added, have a common interest: ensuring adequatereimbursement and patient access for AIDS drugs.

Former Capitol Hill staffer and current representative for thePediatric AIDS Foundation, Tim Westmoreland, agreed. "We have apotent ally with the biotech and pharmaceutical industry," he said."We will speak louder if we can find a common ground."

One policy recommendation is aimed at Congress, which is nowconsidering deep cuts in Medicare and Medicaid to meet theRepublican goal of balancing the federal budget by 2002. Of criticalconcern are proposals to transform Medicaid from a shared federal-state responsibility to block grant programs that are run by the stateswithout any federal standards.

Referring to states that have revised Medicaid operating rules under afederal waiver program, Beier pointed to the "horrible experiences"of Florida, where coverage of biotech drugs was banned across theboard, and Tennessee, where restrictive formularies essentiallyeliminated biotech drugs from the marketplace.

Also under development is language to request that states shouldprovide assurances that payment rates and coverage are adequate toensure that drug treatments are available to AIDS patients, includingrestricting states from imposing limitations on off-label use of drugs,restrictive drug formularies and other initiatives that would limittreatment options for AIDS patients.

The task force also is finalizing language on a targeted tax credit fororphan drug developers by broadening the definition of orphan drugsto include AIDS. But that might endanger its political viability, Beierstated, because broadening the scope of the definition would raise itsprice tag, reducing the odds that such a legislative change would passCongress during this climate of fiscal restraint. n

-- Michele L. Robinson Washington Editor

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.