Clinton spokeswoman defends drug plan after Pfizer comments

[September 10, 2016]    NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's spokeswoman said on Friday Clinton's plan to curb drug spending was not the blow to medical innovation that Pfizer Inc Chief Executive Ian Read described it as being on Thursday.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks to the Annual Session of the National Baptist Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, United States September 8, 2016. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

"Throughout this campaign, Hillary Clinton has called for expanding investments in innovation for healthcare, from a cure for Alzheimer's to building on Vice President Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative," campaign spokeswoman Julie Wood said in an emailed statement. "She's said clearly that our pharmaceutical and biotech industries are great sources of innovation and she wants to support their development of new treatments," she said. Last week, Clinton unveiled a plan to create an oversight panel that would protect consumers from "unjustified" price hikes on life-saving drugs. On Thursday, while speaking at an investor conference, Read said Clinton's plan would be "very negative for innovation." A Pfizer spokeswoman had no further comment on Friday. Drugmakers have been criticized for raising drug prices in the United States, where citizens pay the most worldwide for medicines. (Reporting by Caroline Humer and Ransdell Pierson) [© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

ra