Serán Bioscience, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) providing a comprehensive suite of development, analytical, and manufacturing services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, has announced a strategic growth transaction of more than $200 million, which will support Serán's continued growth and construction of a new commercial-scale manufacturing facility.

"Politics, Patients, and Pharma" Image Credit: Nicole Bean for BioSpaceWhen prescription drug benefits were added to Medicare via the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, the government was not given the ability to negotiate drug pricing. As a result, pharmaceutical companies were, and are, able to determine their own pricing. Another result is that prices for prescription drugs are higher in the U.S., significantly higher, than in most other developed countries.In a 2021 study conducted by the RAND Corporation, researchers estimated that U.S. drug prices were an average 2.56 times higher than the other 32 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The gap increases to 3.44 times higher for larger brand-name drugs.Balancing Innovation, Pricing PatientsBoth the government and the pharma industry seek to give patients access to medications that enhance their quality of life. The question is how to achieve this without putting financial burdens on these patients

Serán is partnering with Oregon Bioscience Association ( oregonbio.org ) to establish a state-sponsored apprenticeship program with the goal of providing paid employment and education to entry-level operations and laboratory technicians.