FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 4, 2011
CONTACT:
JEN DALY
(860) 398-3916
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 asthe 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These current laws should also be repealed because they are redundant due to federal healthcare laws passed in 2010 and 2007 that already mandate similar information disclosures.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
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