Biotech medicines—proteins made by modifying the DNA of bacteria, yeast or mammal cells and infused into sick patients—are the fastest growing category of health spending.

Sales reached $40 billion in 2006, when reports indicated there were more than 400 biotech products being synthesized to treat cancer, AIDS, diabetes, Alzheimers, and a hundred other diseases. The manufacture of biotechs is more complex and costly than conventional medicine, and the cost to patients can run as high as $25,000–50,000 a year. Some members of Congress have introduced legislation that would give consumers access to lower-cost copies; one would authorize the FDA to approve safe, lower-cost versions of biotechnology drugs without the full range of tests normally required for new products. Who are the stakeholders who will be affected by such legislation? What arguments can you make for or against it?