ftc-istock-530746621-rivernorthphotography
RiverNorthPhotography / iStockphoto.com
3 August 2021Big PharmaAlex Baldwin

US Judiciary Committee advances four bills to curb antitrust pharma practices

The  US Senate Judiciary Committee has unanimously voted to pass four bills that aim to crack down on anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry.

The bills will help the  Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other agencies tackle antitrust issues in the pharmaceutical market such as pay-for-delay deals which delay the entry-into-market of biosimilars and generics.

The bills are co-sponsored by Iowa senator Chuck Grassley, who said: “These commonsense bills will make it easier for patients to access generic prescription drugs by holding drug companies accountable for any anti-competitive behaviour without interfering with their innovation.

“I’m glad my colleagues agree and voted to pass these bipartisan proposals out of committee.  I’ll continue my work to improve affordability for medications, but these bills are a great step in the right direction.”

The next step for the four bills will be a vote before the full Senate and then onto the House of Representatives. If the House votes to pass the bills, the final step would require President Biden to sign the bills into law.

The Four Acts

The  Stop STALLING Act looks to reduce the filing of “sham petitions” with the  Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to interfere with the approval of generics and biosimilars by giving the FTC more power to take action against these petitions.

Targeting pay-for-delay deals is the  Preserving Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act. This looks to crack down on deals between drug developers and follow-on drug manufacturers to delay the entry of generics, interchangeable biologics and biosimilars into the market.

The Prescriptions  Pricing for the People Act asks the FTC to consider the impact of consolidation in the pharmaceutical market on pricing and provide policy recommendations to Congress to protect consumers from the impacts.

The  Affordable Perscriptions for Patents Act looks to curb “product hopping” practices, in which drug manufacturers force consumers to hard-switch to a new treatment protected by minor patent alterations in order to delay generics.


More on this story

Americas
18 March 2021   The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is launching a new international working group in an “imperative” move to better analyse the impact of pharmaceutical mergers.
Big Pharma
19 September 2019   A group of senators has urged the US Federal Trade Commission to closely scrutinise mergers in the pharmaceutical industry, which it said “increase competition issues and stifle innovation”.

More on this story

Americas
18 March 2021   The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is launching a new international working group in an “imperative” move to better analyse the impact of pharmaceutical mergers.
Big Pharma
19 September 2019   A group of senators has urged the US Federal Trade Commission to closely scrutinise mergers in the pharmaceutical industry, which it said “increase competition issues and stifle innovation”.