Senate Judiciary Lawmakers Should Reject Big Pharma-Backed Proposal and Instead
Build on Previous Bipartisan Work to Increase Competition in the Prescription
Drug Market





 



CSRxP: PERA WOULD FURTHER ENABLE BIG PHARMA’S PATENT ABUSE THAT KEEPS
PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES HIGH

Senate Judiciary Lawmakers Should Reject Big Pharma-Backed Proposal and
Instead Build on Previous Bipartisan Work to Increase Competition in the
Prescription Drug Market



Washington, D.C. – The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) released a
statement Tuesday ahead of a hearing on The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act
(PERA) in the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on
Intellectual Property scheduled for Wednesday.



“PERA would further enable Big Pharma’s patent abuse playbook that keeps drug
prices high in the United States, by significantly broadening the scope of what
is patentable, likely resulting in brand name pharmaceutical companies building
new patent thickets early on in the drug discovery process,” said CSRxP
executive director Lauren Aronson. “Big Pharma’s egregious abuse of the U.S.
patent system enables brand name drug companies to set increasingly
out-of-control launch prices on new brand name drugs, repeatedly hike prices,
oftentimes at rates outpacing inflation, and block competition from more
affordable alternatives, sometimes for years.”



“While reforms to the U.S. patent system are necessary, this misguided
proposal would undermine the positive work this committee has undertaken to
strengthen competition and affordability,” Aronson continued. “We respectfully
urge lawmakers to reject this Big Pharma-backed proposal and instead focus on
bipartisan, market-based solutions to lower prescription drug prices by
fostering greater competition from more affordable alternatives, like generics
and biosimilars.”



The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA) would significantly broaden the
scope of what is patentable in the United States and result in brand-name
pharmaceutical companies being able to gain exclusive rights to what the U.S.
Supreme Court has recognized as products of nature or naturally occurring
phenomena. When one then considers Big Pharma’s ability to build patent
thickets on its blockbuster products, it is easy to see that patients will be
harmed in the form of higher drug prices should PERA be enacted.



Read CSRxP’s full statement for the committee record HERE
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.



Read more on how Big Pharma’s patent abuse is the root cause of high
prescription drug pricesHERE
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Read more on bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable
HERE <[link removed]>.



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