WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statements after their Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act, which would help lower drug prices by preventing bad actors in the pharmaceutical industry from deliberately abusing the patent system, and Drug Competition Enhancement Act, which would spur generic and biosimilar marketplace competition by prohibiting branded drug manufacturers from engaging in “product hopping” to help lower drug prices for patients, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee:

“Patent thicketing and product hopping are abusive and anti-competitive practices that hinder generic drugs from entering the marketplace and raise prices for consumers,” said Sen. Cornyn. “These bills would root out this wrongdoing and hold bad actors in the pharmaceutical industry accountable to ensure Texans can access the treatments and life-saving medications they need without breaking the bank.”

“For too long, pharmaceutical companies have been allowed to abuse the patent system, stifling innovation and driving up costs for consumers,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “This legislation cracks down on drug companies’ manipulative and exploitative practices, promoting competition and lowering prescription drug costs for patients.”

“The steep price of life-saving medication puts a major strain on Iowans,” said Sen. Grassley. “Our legislation will help reduce the cost of prescription drugs by ending the abusive practice of blocking generic and biosimilar drugs from entering the market.”

“I’m pleased the Senate Judiciary Committee passed our Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act and Drug Competition Enhancement Act. Americans shouldn’t be forced to choose between their wallets and their health. But because Big Pharma games the system, too many patients face sky-high prescription drug costs,” said Sen. Durbin. “I urge the Senate to take these bills up quickly so we can ensure that the Senate is looking out for Americans, not Big Pharma.”

Background:

Some pharmaceutical manufacturers have been deliberately abusing the system to prevent potential competitors from entering the marketplace through tactics like “product hopping” and abuse of the “patent dance” process, which slow the entry of lower-cost alternatives. 

The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act and the Drug Competition Enhancement Act put an end to practices that prioritize profits for pharmaceutical companies ahead of Americans’ health and help lower drug prices for patients.

The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act:

By stopping abuses of our patent system, this legislation would pave the way for biosimilars to compete with branded drugs and aggressively lower drug prices for consumers in the process. In 2010, Congress enacted a law designed to resolve any patent litigation quickly before a biosimilar is introduced to the market, creating a patent dispute resolution process known as the “patent dance.” Under current law, there are no limits on the number of patents that a branded manufacturer of biologics can assert during the patent dance – leading some companies to abuse a process designed to facilitate biosimilar entry, not hinder it. This bill places a reasonable limit on the number of patents a manufacturer can contest, preventing a “patent thicket.” This would help deter branded manufacturers of biologics from gaming the system to increase the number of patents they assert, while preserving the incentives provided by the patent system to encourage the core innovation that produces new biologic treatments in the first place.

The Drug Competition Enhancement Act:

This legislation would put an end to “product hopping,” a practice that bad actors in the pharmaceutical industry engage in when their exclusive right to a drug is about to expire, but they do not want to compete with generic alternatives. Rather than simply competing on the merits with their old drug and any generic alternative, companies manipulate the market to move patients off the old drug and onto the new. They “hop” patients from branded product to branded product by engaging in a variety of practices to disadvantage their old drug, including destroying the inventory of their old drug, pulling it from the market, aggressively raising the price, badmouthing their old drug, or even diminishing its safety.  Then, when the market protections for the earlier drug expire and a generic or biosimilar alternative comes to market, it is difficult to switch patients to the cheaper generic or biosimilar. The Drug Competition Enhancement Act would prohibit branded drug manufacturers from engaging in anticompetitive product hopping, making that practice an antitrust violation. If companies engage in this behavior, they would risk enforcement action from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It would also facilitate entry to the market for generics and biosimilars, which drives down drug costs for patients and consumers.