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.
Read more on how Big Pharma’s patent abuse is the root cause of high prescription drug prices HERE.
Read more on bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.
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