A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill last week to encourage generic competition by offering a new priority review voucher (PRV) program. A rehash of a bill introduced last year, the Lower Drug Costs Through Competition Act is intended to encourage drug companies "to bring new generic drugs to the market where there might otherwise be little incentive to compete because there is a small patient population for the drug or the costs of development might be too high," according to Reps. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) and Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), co-sponsors of the bill. Several other lawmakers have signed onto the legislation. Under the bill, sponsors that successfully bring a qualifying generic to market would be awarded a transferable PRV like the ones used as incentives for the development of pediatric drugs and treatments targeting tropical diseases. In the past, sponsors have sold the vouchers, which trim four months from the standard 10-month review time, for hundreds of millions of dollars.

President Donald Trump's two-for-one regulation memo is now an executive order. It instructs federal agencies to identify at least two regulations to be withdrawn for every new regulation issued. It also calls for a zero sum cost for all new and withdrawn regulations. The order instructs the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to instruct the agencies on details such as what qualifies as new or offsetting regulations and what the standards are for measuring and estimating regulatory costs. In addition, the order restricts new regulations to those included on the Unified Regulatory Agenda, unless expressly approved by OMB.