More than 6 Million Helped by Partnership for Prescription Assistance

WASHINGTON Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Biotech Week recently reported
that, after visiting more than 3,000 cities in all 50 states, the Partnership
for Prescription Assistance (PPA) reached a historic milestone by helping the
six-millionth person at an event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The PPA is a nationwide effort sponsored by America's pharmaceutical research
and biotechnology companies that links uninsured and financially struggling
Americans to programs that provide prescription medicine for free or nearly
free.

"The PPA, so far, has helped more than 297,300 Pennsylvanians find out if they
qualify for free or discounted medicines - and this vital assistance is still
available," said Ken Johnson, senior vice president of the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). "That's good news for
Pennsylvania, where there are 543,000 people now out of work."

"At a time when national unemployment is the highest in almost two decades,
the PPA has become an important lifeline for a growing number of patients,"
PhRMA's Johnson said. "Millions of Americans have been added to the jobless
rolls over the last several months and there could be a sharp increase in the
number of people losing health care benefits.''

The PPA provides a single point of access to more than 475 patient assistance
programs. Nearly 200 of the programs are provided by pharmaceutical companies.

Patients who are eligible for help from the PPA's participating patient
assistance programs have access to more than 2,500 brand-name and generic
prescription medicines. In addition, the PPA provides information on more than
10,000 free health care clinics in America and has connected more than 287,000
patients with clinics and health care providers in their communities.

To find out if there are patient assistance programs that may meet their
needs, patients should call toll-free 1-888-4PPA-NOW (1-888-477-2669) to speak
with a trained specialist or visit www.pparx.org.

To read the original article in Biotech Week, visit the publication's website.

SOURCE Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America