CSRxP JOINS FELLOW ADVOCATES FOR LOWER DRUG PRICES TO URGE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE TO CRACK DOWN ON BIG PHARMA’S PATENT ABUSE

Letter Encourages Lawmakers to Advance Bipartisan Solutions to Hold Big Pharma Accountable for Tactics That Block Competition from More Affordable Alternatives

Washington, D.C. – The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) joined several other prominent advocates for lowering prescription drug prices, including AARP, the ERISA Industry Committee, the National MS Society, the Purchaser Business Group on Health and Patients for Affordable Drugs (P4AD), on a letter Friday encouraging lawmakers on the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary to advance bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable for abuse of the patent system. The letter highlights several bills the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary unanimously passed in February 2023. An amended version of one of the bills, S.150, the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act, was unanimously passed by the full Senate on July 11, 2024.

“As organizations concerned about the high price of prescription drugs, we write to urge the House Judiciary Committee to advance policies to address patent abuse and increase competition in the prescription drug market before the conclusion of the 118th Congress,” the letter says. “These policies would help spur competition in the prescription drug market, resulting in greater access to more affordable medications and substantial savings for patients, consumers, employers, and the federal government.”

The letter highlights the extent of Big Pharma’s patent abuse:

“Between 2005 and 2015, 74 percent of the new drug patents issued were for drugs already on the market,” the letter states. “A second study of the ten top-selling drugs in 2021 corroborated that number.  Of the roughly 100 best-selling drugs in another study, nearly 80 percent obtained an additional patent to extend their monopoly period.  It was never the intent of our patent laws to extend monopoly pricing in the way that occurs today.”

And points to several anti-competitive tactics the pharmaceutical industry routinely employs to game the system:

“Our patent system was designed to reward innovation and incentivize the development of clinical breakthroughs and inventions that bring meaningful benefits to patients,” it says. “Unfortunately, brand-name drug companies have employed a variety of strategies to abuse our patent system to extend monopolies and keep prices high for patients far beyond what Congress intended. These tactics include evergreening, patent thicketing, anti-competitive pay-for-delay deals, manipulation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s citizen petition process, and product hopping.”

The letter then calls on members of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary to build on recent progress in the U.S. Senate to hold Big Pharma accountable to lower drug prices:

“We urge your Committee to advance these strongly bipartisan efforts to reduce patent abuse and encourage more rapid development and approval of lower-cost generics and biosimilars in the remaining months of the 118th Congress,” the co-signed organizations write. “Decisive action by the House Judiciary Committee in the coming months is critical to deliver much-needed savings for patients and taxpayers by increasing competition in the prescription drug market.”

Read the full letter HERE.

Read more on how Big Pharma’s patent abuse is the root cause of high prescription drug prices HERE.

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