CSRXP APPLAUDS U.S. SENATE REINTRODUCTION OF BIPARTISAN, MARKET-BASED SOLUTIONS TO LOWER DRUG PRICES BY ADDRESSING BIG PHARMA’S PATENT ABUSE

Cracking Down on Anti-Competitive Tactics Like Patent-Thicketing and Product-Hopping Will Save Patients and Taxpayers Billions of Dollars

Washington, D.C. – The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) released the following statement Friday on the introduction of S.1040 and S.1041 in the U.S. Senate.

“We applaud Senators Cornyn and Blumenthal for their commitment to lowering prescription drug prices for American patients by addressing Big Pharma’s egregious abuse of the patent system,” said CSRxP executive director Lauren Aronson. “Big Pharma’s patent abuse tactics, like patent-thicketing and product-hopping, extend monopolies, block competition from more affordable alternatives and keep drug prices high.”

“These solutions, projected to produce billions of dollars in savings by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), have a demonstrated track record of support from lawmakers in both parties, including unanimous passage of The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act in the U.S. Senate during the last Congress,” Aronson added. “Congress should swiftly pass these bipartisan, market-based solutions to lower drug prices for the American people by increasing competition into law.”

Voters Overwhelmingly Support Solutions to Address Big Pharma’s Patent Abuses 

• 82 percent of voters support patent reforms to prevent drug companies from abusing the system to prevent cheaper alternatives from entering the market.
• 89 percent of voters are concerned Big Pharma has a long history of price-gouging American patients through tactics designed to game the U.S. patent system and block competition from more affordable alternatives, including patent thickets comprised of hundreds of patents on their blockbuster drugs, effectively preventing competitors from bringing lower-cost alternatives to market.

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed Cornyn-Blumenthal, a longstanding priority for CSRxP, last July. The bill would hold Big Pharma accountable for patent thickets that block competition from more affordable alternatives and impose billions of dollars in higher drug costs on patients and the U.S. health care system each year. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated the bill would save $1.8 billion.

Read more on bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.