CSRxP: Judiciary Committee Cracks Down on Big Pharma’s Anti-Competitive Tactics

Senators Advance Three Measures to Help Lower Drug Prices as Momentum to Hold Drug Makers Accountable Builds

Washington, D.C. – The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) today released a statement praising lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary for advancing three important measures to crack down on anti-competitive tactics employed by Big Pharma during a legislative markup Thursday. Momentum to hold Big Pharma accountable is building in Congress. The Judiciary Committee action comes one day after the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced two market-based solutions to increase competition and boost transparency.

“We applaud the Senate Judiciary Committee for advancing these important measures to crack down on the anti-competitive gimmicks employed by Big Pharma to hamper competition and extend monopolies on life-saving drugs,” CSRxP executive director Lauren Aronson said.  “We commend Chairman Graham, Ranking Member Feinstein and members of the committee for working together to deliver results for American patients by targeting drug makers’ abuse of the system.”

“There is much more that needs to be done, but the momentum in Congress to hold Big Pharma accountable with market-based solutions to increase competition and boost transparency has never been greater,” Aronson continued. “We look forward to continuing to work with lawmakers, on both sides of the aisle, to capitalize on this momentum and deliver concrete relief for the millions of Americans struggling to afford their medications.”

The Stop Significant and Time-Wasting Abuse Limiting Legitimate Innovation of New Generics (STALLING) Act targets Big Pharma abuse of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) citizen petition process to delay generic drug applications. The STALLING Act passed out of the Judiciary Committee with unanimous, bipartisan support Thursday.

The Affordable Prescription Drugs for Patients Act of 2019 targets abusive “product hopping” and “patent thicketing” tactics brand name drug makers employ to game the patent system and unfairly extend product monopolies. The Affordable Prescription Drugs for Patients Act of 2019 also passed out of the Judiciary Committee with unanimous, bipartisan support Thursday.

The Preserving Access to Cost Effective Drugs (PACED) Act moves to prevent brand name drug makers from transferring their products’ patents to Native American tribes with sovereign immunity in a backhanded attempt at skirting the U.S. patent system and prevent competitors from entering the market. The PACED Act passed on a 12 to 10 vote out of the Judiciary Committee Thursday.

Read more on these solutions in CSRxP’s comments filed with the Judiciary Committee HERE.