One biotech leader is sounding the alarm on a dire problem faced by the health care system, warning that it could imminently "bankrupt" the industry.
"We need to do something about Alzheimer's… It's going to bankrupt America's health care system in a few years," Graviton Chairman and CEO Sam Waksal explained during an appearance on "Mornings with Maria" Wednesday. The biopharmaceutical entrepreneur pointedly warned that "half the people who reach the age of 85 are going to have Alzheimer's."
And the problem only seems to be growing. An estimated 6.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease today. However, according to a new report published by the Alzheimer’s Association, that number is expected to nearly double over the next two decades, reaching nearly 13 million by 2050.
The pharmaceutical innovation needed to combat serious diseases like Alzheimer's and others is being compromised, Waksal warned, ttelling host Maria Bartiromo that while the health care sector is historically "anti-recessionary," that doesn't mean it doesn't have its fair share of problems.
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"Somebody gets heart disease, somebody gets cancer…drugs are [still] bought. It's an area that is removed from the rest of the world," he said. "You may not drive your car as much or put gasoline in it as much, but you will buy things to save your life."
But Waksal explained that, in spite of the constant demand, there are adverse effects to the White House's initiative of cutting prescription drug costs - namely that biotech investments are being compromised as a result.
"It's hitting investments. Biotech companies that need money from VCs, from funds that are investing in Biotech, they're becoming afraid of putting many into biotech companies right now," he stressed.
"Drug pricing is the major part of what our great health care costs are. We have pharmacy benefit managers that are middlemen that are stealing money. We have issues that are really great. But innovation is what we do in this country. We discover the major breakthroughs that are saving people's lives and worrying about the costs of those drugs in the way that we've seen is a mistake," Waksal explained.
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"For example, in the Inflation Reduction Act, they put in a piece of the act where Medicare and Medicaid get to negotiate after eight years of a drug being on the market way before the patents are gone. And it's affecting the way people are doing research on small molecules, so they only do them on antibodies and biologics," he added.
Bartiromo subsequently inquired about an alleged "implosion" within the biotech sector – an economically "painful" prediction, according to Waksal.
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"There are lots of companies that went public at $2 billion market caps that are now trading at $200 million market caps. That's an implosion. And these are hundreds of companies, not ten," Waksal responded.
"They went public and raised $500 million. And they were two $3 billion market caps. The problem was that a lot of the companies that went public were at stages of development, that shouldn't have been a public company. That's an issue. But innovation is affected still," he continued.
Adam Johnson, a panelist on Wednesday's edition of "Mornings with Maria," asked Waksal, "When does the window open back up so that these younger companies can get the funding they need?"
"That's important. So I've opined on this — not that I know for sure – but we've had now about a year and change of companies that have had market caps lower than the amount of cash they have in the bank. So, that's a big deal," Waksal concluded.
