CSRxP: USPTO WITHDRAWAL OF PATENT THICKET RULE ADDS TO URGENCY FOR CONGRESS TO PASS CORNYN-BLUMENTHAL

Lawmakers Must Act to Hold Big Pharma Accountable for Egregious Patent Abuse that Blocks Competition and Keeps Prescription Drug Prices High

Washington, D.C. – The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) released a statement Wednesday after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) withdrew a proposed rule aimed at curbing the anti-competitive practice of patent thicketing, commonly utilized by brand name pharmaceutical companies to extend monopolies on blockbuster products.

“We are disappointed in USPTO’s decision to withdraw this proposed rule, which adds even greater urgency to the need for Congress to crack down on Big Pharma’s egregious patent thickets by passing Cornyn-Blumenthal in the lame duck,” said CSRxP executive director Lauren Aronson. “Big Pharma’s patent thickets protect drug company profits not innovation, while keeping drug prices high for millions of American patients.”

“Big Pharma’s egregious abuse of the patent system blocks competition from more affordable alternatives and costs patients and the U.S. health care system billions of dollars every year,” Aronson continued. “Earlier this year, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Cornyn-Blumenthal, which would lower drug prices by cracking down on patent thickets that block competition. This bipartisan, market-based solution should be swiftly passed by the full Congress.”

A January 2023 report from Matrix Global Advisors, “Patent Thickets and Lost Drug Savings,” quantified the one-year cost of lost savings on five brand name drugs around which Big Pharma has built especially egregious patent thickets. The five drugs were AbbVie’s autoimmune drug Humira and oncology drug Imbruvica, Regeneron’s ophthalmology drug Eylea, Amgen’s autoimmune drug Enbrel, and Bristol Myers Squibb’s oncology drug Opdivo.

The report assesses what the savings would be for these five drugs if “a steady state of competition [existed] where generics and biosimilars have achieved price discounts and uptake currently observed in the market.” Based on these calculations, the estimated one-year cost of patent thickets on each of these brand name drugs was:

• $7.6 billion for Humira
• $3.1 billion for Imbruvica
• $2.5 billion for Eylea
• $1.9 billion for Enbrel
• $1.8 billion for Opdivo

This amounts to a total of more than $16 billion in additional drug spending each year, for just these five brand name drugs.

Read more on how Big Pharma’s patent abuse tactics drive increased costs for consumers and the U.S. health care system HERE.

Read more on market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable and lower prescription drug prices HERE.

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