2024 was Incubate's busiest year yet! From California to Japan, we traveled far and wide to educate policymakers and patient advocates on the pivotal role venture capital plays in bringing transformative new medications to market.
Incubate began the year in San Francisco at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, where we co-hosted a healthcare policy panel with DLA Piper.[1] Moderated by Incubate's executive director, John Stanford, the panel included former Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), Kirsten Axelsen of DLA Piper, and Gaurav Gupta of J.P. Morgan.[2]
Over breakfast, panelists answered audience members' questions and discussed intellectual property policy, healthcare mergers and acquisitions, and healthcare provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Incubate plans to make this healthcare policy panel an annual event at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference going forward.
January closed out with good news from Congress. On January 31, Representatives Don Davis (D-NC), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Greg Murphy (R-NC) introduced H.R. 7174, the Ensuring Pathways to Innovative Cures (EPIC) Act.[3] This bipartisan bill would grant small molecules and biologics equal reprieve from Medicare price controls, eliminating the small molecule penalty created by the IRA and preserving incentives to invest in small molecule research and development.[4]
Q2 kicked off with the launch of the Incubate Policy Lab, which operates under the leadership of senior advisor Kirsten Axelsen. Accompanying the launch was a new white paper, IP Protections for Medicines: Supporting Innovation and Promoting Competition. The paper details the myriad patent protections and other exclusive licenses available for new drugs and dispels common myths about IP rights in the life sciences, including the misconception that patents block generic entry and impede competition.[5]
May was a busy month of travel for the Incubate team. Senior leadership traveled to Cape Cod, Massachusetts for the 2024 Convergence Forum, where they met with biotech executives, venture capitalists, and other thought leaders to discuss all things policy and investment in the life sciences. The event featured a fireside chat between John Stanford and Representative Jake Auchincloss (D-MA).
Incubate senior leadership then flew across the Pacific to Japan, meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry; Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology; and the National Diet. They spoke about fostering innovation in Japan, promoting public-private partnerships, and Japan's bright future in the life sciences.
May wrapped up with a trip to New Haven, Connecticut for the 2024 Yale Innovation Summit. Biotech inventors, investors, and executives convened across panels, networking events, and pitch competitions. Now in its 10th year, the Summit has become one of the Northeast's foremost industry events for biotech, climate, health, and the arts.
On June 13, Incubate launched its Life Sciences Investment Tracker, a first-of-its-kind database. Over a year in the making, the tracker catalogs more than 140 SEC filings, quarterly reports, and company announcements to monitor how the IRA is influencing pharmaceutical companies' investment decisions.
The tracker reveals that since the IRA became law, companies have discontinued 40 research programs and 22 drugs, including small molecule drugs for cancer.[6] Numerous other drug companies have expressed concern that the financial incentives in the IRA may depress revenue and lead to future layoffs and shuttered research programs.[7]
On August 15, the day before the two-year anniversary of the IRA's passage, the Biden administration announced Maximum Fair Prices (MFPs) for the first 10 drugs selected for Medicare price setting.[8] Incubate responded to the announcement, emphasizing that MFPs will likely discourage venture capitalists from funding drug development, particularly for small molecules. Three of the ten drugs Medicare selected for the first round of price controls -- Farxiga, Jardiance, and Entresto -- were eligible only because of the small molecule penalty.[9][10][11]
Following the MFP announcement, John Stanford provided commentary to national publications and healthcare trade outlets, including Investor's Business Daily, Washington Examiner, Axios, Bloomberg Law, and BioSpace.
This September was Incubate's second year marking "9/13 Day" -- a reminder of the disparate treatment of small molecules and biologics under the IRA. New small molecule drugs receive only 9 years of exemption from Medicare price controls, while new biologic drugs are exempted for 13 years.
9/13 Day in 2024 kicked off Incubate's "Small Molecules, Big Voices" video campaign. Incubate partnered with six allies who spoke about the power of small molecule medicines in their work and who reiterated the necessity of a common-sense solution to the small molecule penalty. Participants included North Carolina congressmen Don Davis and Greg Murphy, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Senior Vice President Pam Traxel, North Carolina Life Sciences President Laura Gunter, neuroscientist and biotech founder Sherine Chan, and Mycovia Pharmaceuticals chairman Patrick Jordan.
In tandem with the campaign, Incubate Policy Lab published its second white paper, Small Molecules, Big Impact. The paper dives into the clinical history of small molecule medicines and current developments in small molecule therapies -- including new treatments for heart disease, cancer, and infectious diseases.[12]
In October, Incubate was thrilled to host Brian Reid, a healthcare policy expert and author of the Cost Curve newsletter, for an episode of our podcast, Making Medicine. Brian and John spoke about how to untangle the complexity of the American healthcare system and how to recenter patient care.
All year, John spoke with journalists at numerous trade and national media outlets, including recent commentary at Business Insider and Bloomberg Law in November. To read more of Incubate's media commentary in 2024, check out our "Incubate in the News" blog post here[1] .
At the end of November, John co-authored a piece in Nature Biotechnology with Hiroki Ashida, Vice President at Eight Roads Venture, on the Japanese biotech industry's current state and promising future.
As we close out 2024, we want to take a moment to thank our partners who collaborated with us throughout the year to advocate for a healthcare system that incentivizes groundbreaking medical advancements that improve and save lives. We look forward to another year of educating policymakers and advocating for patients.
[3]https://murphy.house.gov/media/press-releases/murphy-introduces-legislation-eliminate-ira-pill-penalty-and-support-small
[4]https://murphy.house.gov/media/press-releases/murphy-introduces-legislation-eliminate-ira-pill-penalty-and-support-small
[5]https://www.incubatecoalition.org/post/incubate-launches-policy-lab-under-new-leadership-and-releases-ip-white-paper
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