Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Senators urge FTC to “aggressively challenge” pay-for-delay patent settlements, (Oct 30, 2015)

By Greg Hammond, J.D.

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez yesterday, requesting that the Commission “aggressively challenge any pharmaceutical patent settlement that is anticompetitive.”

In particular, the senators urge the FTC to challenge pay-for-delay agreements in which brand-name drug companies pay generic drug companies to delay marketing lower cost generic drugs. While the senators commended the Commission for its work in this area, they note that the FTC has only challenged one pay-for-delay pharmaceutical patent settlement since the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in FTC v. Actavis, 133 S. Ct. 2223, 2013-1 Trade Cases ¶78,419.

“We are writing to encourage the Federal Trade Commission to maintain its vigilance in protecting American consumers from anticompetitive pay-for-delay patent settlements, which keep more affordable generic equivalents off the market,” the letter states. “This issue is extremely important to consumers; competitive drugs prices are necessary for affordable health care.”

The senators are also the lead sponsors of the Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act (S.2019), a bill drafted to prohibit brand name drug companies from compensating generic drug companies to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market. The bill was introduced to the Senate in early September and is currently before the Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights.

News: Antitrust FederalTradeCommissionNews