​This month (February 9), Congress passed and the President signed into law a full and permanent repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Eliminating the IPAB is critical for the continued success of California’s innovative life sciences sector, because the board could have harmed biomedical innovation by reducing incentives for investment in new research and product development.

CLSA, the trade association representing California’s life sciences industry, today commended the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of Alex Azar as the new secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) applauds the House and Senate passage of legislation that temporarily suspends the ill-conceived 2.3% medical device tax for an additional 2 years, until December 2019.

On Dec. 20, Congress passed a sweeping overhaul of the tax code in the form of H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. While CLSA did not take a position on the overall legislation, we did work in close collaboration and coordination with BIO and our CLSA member companies to ensure that the Orphan Drug Tax Credit – a meaningful incentive for investment in rare disease therapy innovation – was preserved in the final bill passed by Congress.