OPINION:
America is on the cusp of a major biotech expansion.
Across the country, pharmaceutical companies are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in new research facilities, laboratories and manufacturing plants. Those investments could create thousands of jobs and strengthen the U.S. economy for years to come, as long as Congress doesn’t inadvertently undermine this momentum.
Some lawmakers are contemplating a plan to import the foreign price controls that have hollowed out Europe’s biotech sector. These price controls would sharply reduce biotech companies’ revenue and deter them from investing in research and development here at home.
They would bring the coming biotech boom to a halt, hurting in particular the thousands of Hispanic-owned small businesses that provide services to drug companies of all sizes.
Drug companies’ investments in new manufacturing facilities are fueling a construction boom across the country. Lilly recently announced a new manufacturing site in Alabama that will generate 3,000 construction jobs. Johnson & Johnson is building a Pennsylvania facility that will create an estimated 4,000 construction jobs.
If Congress’ plan becomes law, then pharmaceutical companies will almost certainly scrap these planned expansions.
Local contractors and vendors will lose out on valuable business. Because nearly 20% of all Hispanic-owned businesses are in the construction industry, this pullback would disproportionately hurt Hispanic small-business owners and workers.
Price controls wouldn’t just reduce job creation. They would also result in less research and development and, ultimately, fewer new medicines. That’s bad news for hundreds of millions of patients and the businesses that employ them.
New drugs help workers manage chronic conditions and prevent complications. Without continued innovation, people will be less able to keep illnesses at bay, and the results will include more time away from work, lower productivity and higher health care costs for employers.
That would disproportionately hurt Hispanic businesses.
Hispanic workers tend to suffer from chronic diseases at higher rates than the national average. Hispanics are nearly 60% more likely to have liver disease than U.S. adults overall. They are 13% more likely to have diabetes. Hispanic adults are dying from diabetes 17% more often.
Leading causes of death among Hispanic Americans include heart disease and cancer.
Given that 99% of Hispanic-owned businesses are small businesses, which often struggle to absorb rising health care expenses and employee premiums, the effect could be devastating.
Hispanic patients and small businesses are counting on the biotech industry to keep delivering business opportunities and life-changing breakthroughs. It would be a mistake to stall our momentum by importing foreign price controls that deter investment and innovation.
• Carlos Orta is the president and CEO of The Latino Coalition.
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