Download NEBA Maine LD 719 - New England Biotech Association

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 4, 2011
CONTACT:
JEN DALY
(860) 398-3916
[email protected]
NEW ENGLAND BIOTECH ASSOCIATION SAYS HEALTH LAW
CHANGE COULD BRING BIOTECH JOBS AND INNOVATION TO MAINE
The New England Biotech Association (NEBA) today submitted testimony to the Maine
Legislature supporting a change to state law that would eliminate barriers to health care and
biopharmaceutical development and investment that currently exist in the state. NEBA joins
the Bioscience Association of Maine (BAM) and the national Biotechnology Industry
Organization (BIO) in supporting LD 719, which would make required disclosures about
prescription drugs consistent with federal law.
NEBA is a non-profit, member-driven organization comprised of state biotech associations,
companies, academic institutions, and other organizations in the six New England states with
a collective mission to support and grow the biotechnology industry in the region, and serves
as the regional policy and public affairs voice for the biotechnology and
biopharmaceutical industry.
NEBA Chairman Paul Pescatello, in testimony submitted to the Joint Standing Committee on
Health & Human Services, stated:
“Passage of LD 719 is critical to fostering a more attractive business environment in Maine
for the biotechnology and healthcare industries. The legislation repeals three areas of
existing Maine law that are anti-innovation and act as deterrents to healthcare investment
opportunities and job creation in the state.
These current laws should also be repealed because they are redundant due to federal
healthcare laws passed in 2010 and 2007 that already mandate similar information
disclosures. With repeal, consumers will still be able to access information about
relationships between Maine health providers and biopharmaceutical companies, and about
ongoing and completed drug clinical trials, on federal websites.
Maine was one of the first states to adopt a marketing disclosure law, and it remains the
only state to have adopted a state-specific clinical trial disclosure law. Both of these sent the
wrong message to our industry. The passage of LD 719 will send the right message to the
biopharmaceutical industry: Maine is open for business.”
Representing over 600 members from all six New England states, NEBA is committed to
educating policy makers and the public about the biotech industry; promoting public policies
that foster innovation; encouraging economic development in the biotech sector; and
advocating continued patient access to life-saving and life-improving breakthrough
biotechnology medicines.
To find out more about NEBA, visit www.newenglandbiotech.org
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