A bipartisan group of Senate and House members on Thursday will introduce a bill that would require drugmakers to justify to HHS any price increase of more than 10 percent at least one month before the new price takes effect, according to USA Today.
Under the proposed terms, pharmaceutical companies would have to disclose spending on research and development, manufacturing, marketing and advertising for a given drug, as well as information on profits. Further, all of the information would be available to the public, save for confidential or proprietary details, according to the report.
The bill, called the Fair Accountability and Innovative Research Drug Pricing Act, is co-sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), and by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) in the House, according to the report.
The bill follows news last week that the Senate Homeland Security subcommittee on investigations opened an inquiry into the pricing of Mylan's EpiPen, a device that injects life-saving epinephrine to stop allergic reactions. Mylan CEO Heather Bresch will testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Sept. 21 in a hearing called by Republicans and Democrats on the panel following the company's nearly 550 percent price hike for the drug.