October 10, 2025
TOPLINE
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held a hearing on The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA), a policy that 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.
“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 said in a statement. “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. Read CSRxP’s full statement on PERA HERE. And get a Dose of Reality on Big Pharma’s patent abuse HERE.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“Affordability has been an issue for a long time — drug price increases were double digits for many years… It’s been a slow burn.”
Jennifer Rick, Senior Policy Fellow, National Academy of State Health Policy
DATA POINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
$199 Million
The amount that Big Pharma spent on direct-to-consumer advertising on just the top 10 brand name drugs in September, according to Fierce Pharma.
TWEETS OF THE WEEK
@realtahiramin: “Subcutaneous versions of IV drugs often launch right around the time that IV patents expire. What a mysterious phenomenon…”
@Runaway_Rx: “Ever wonder why you see so many drug ads during your favorite shows? It’s because #BigPharma poured over $10 billion into prescription drug ads last year, with the top 10 drug brands accounting for $3.3 billion. No wonder drug costs are so high! Read more from @l_e_whyte and @AlyssaLukpat in the @WSJ: https://bit.ly/3JRM9vv”
ROAD TO RECOVERY
OpenSecrets: Trump Moves Against Direct-To-Consumer Drug Ads Despite Massive Lobbying By Pharmaceutical Industry
President Donald Trump has begun a sweeping crackdown on direct-to-consumer drug advertising as part of his administration’s Make America Healthy Again campaign, which could alter the way the U.S. pharmaceutical industry markets products to consumers. This policy shift comes against the backdrop of more than $102 million in lobbying on pharmaceutical manufacturing in the first six months of 2025, making the drug industry one of the most powerful lobbying forces in the country.
Axios: The Pharmaceutical Industry Isn’t Yet In The Clear
Drug companies' increasing willingness to negotiate deals with the Trump administration and voluntarily cut some prices may be making a splash, but the real-world impact will probably be underwhelming. The pharmaceutical industry's compromises so far can be best viewed as attempts to avoid tariffs or undesirable regulatory action by the Trump administration. And it's anyone's guess as to whether they'll be successful.
PHARMA’S POOR PROGNOSIS
Inside Health Policy: CSRxP: PERA Would Further Enable Big Pharma’s Patent Abuse That Keeps Prescription Drug Prices High
“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.”
Reuters: US Court Rejects Novo Nordisk’s Challenge To Medicare Drug Pricing Plan
A federal appeals court on Monday rejected Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO) challenge to the U.S. government’s program that gives its Medicare health insurance plan the power to negotiate lower drug prices, the latest in a barrage of lawsuits brought by drugmakers to fail. The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling dismissing the Danish drugmaker’s challenge to the program and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' selection of six of its insulin products for price negotiations.
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