DOSE OF REALITY: I-MAK REPORT FINDS BIG PHARMA’S PATENT ABUSE WILL GENERATE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR MANUFACTURERS WHILE DELAYING COMPETITION
Analysis Underscores How Anti-Competitive Tactics Like Patent Thicketing Keep U.S. Drug Prices High
In case you missed it, the Initiative for Medicines, Access and Knowledge (I-MAK) released the latest installment of the organization’s “Overpatented, Overpriced” series, analyzing Big Pharma’s egregious abuse of the U.S. patent system and how these anti-competitive strategies keep prescription drug prices high.
I-MAK’s latest report highlights blockbuster brand name drugs Eliquis, Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy as particular case studies in how Big Pharma games the system to extend monopoly pricing.
Bristol Myers Squibb & Pfizer: The report details how Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and Pfizer recently secured a patent term extension (PTE) on blood-thinner Eliquis, securing patent exclusivity for an additional four years to 2026, 24 years after the first patent was filed on the blockbuster drug in 2002.
During these four years of delayed competition, Eliquis is projected to generate $39.1 billion in U.S. revenue for its Big Pharma manufacturers. Pfizer and BMS are set to rake in an additional $11.6 billion in U.S. sales in the 16-month gap before the anticipated first generic launches in April of 2028. As a result of this anti-competitive gamesmanship of the U.S. patent system, BMS and Pfizer will collect approximately $50 billion in U.S. revenue from this high-priced brand name drug that would otherwise be subject to generic competition.
The I-MAK report also shines a spotlight on the egregious price discrepancies between the U.S. and other countries. For example, in the U.S., a monthly supply of Eliquis costs $521, whereas Australia has a price tag of just $70 per month.
Novo Nordisk: I-MAK’s report highlights how Big Pharma giant Novo Nordisk has become a new poster child for the egregious anti-competitive pharmaceutical industry practice of patent-thicketing, filing “320 U.S. patent applications related to its three products, Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy, which all use the same active ingredient—semaglutide.”
Novo Nordisk’s most recently secured patent will help the big drug company undermine competition to these products for an additional five years through 2031, despite the primary patent on semaglutide expiring in 2026. During that extended window, I-MAK estimates Novo Nordisk will earn an estimated $166 billion from Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy.
Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy also offer stark examples in pricing disparities for the U.S. compared with other developed countries. According to the I-MAK report:
- U.S. prices for brand name semaglutide products are, on average, three-to-eight times higher than comparable economically wealthy nations.
- The price differential is most pronounced for Ozempic, where U.S. patients pay eight times more than European patients.
Congress should build on strong bipartisan support for market-based solutions, like Cornyn-Blumenthal, that will hold Big Pharma accountable for egregious abuse of the patent system and help foster greater competition to lower drug prices for American patients.
Read the full report from I-MAK HERE.
Read more about how Big Pharma’s patent abuse extends monopolies to keep prices high on GLP-1s HERE.
Read more on the cost of Big Pharma’s patent abuse and market-based solutions to boost competition HERE.
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