P4ADNow Will Press To Keep The PREVAIL Act, Which Narrowly Cleared Committee, From A Vote On The Senate Floor
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now is disappointed to see the Senate Judiciary Committee advance a patent bill that would harm patients: S. 2220 the PREVAIL Act. If enacted into law, the bill would weaken mechanisms to challenge potentially invalid patents and undermine existing checks on the pharmaceutical industry’s power, further limiting competition from less expensive generics and biosimilars. This would result in higher drug prices, putting more essential medications out of reach for patients nationwide.
The bill cleared the Committee on a razor-thin vote of 11 to 10, with several senators who supported its passage expressing significant reservations about the potential negative impact on patients and drug prices. Several Yes votes also indicated they would be uncomfortable supporting the bill in its current form if it was brought to the floor.
Merith Basey, Executive Director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now released the following statement:
“Today’s markup of the PREVAIL Act is a step backward for patients. At a time when three in ten Americans struggle to afford their prescribed medications and over 20 percent have fallen into debt or bankruptcy due to healthcare costs, this bill would extend drug monopolies, stifle competition from cheaper generic and biosimilar drugs, and ultimately keep drug prices artificially high for millions of Americans.
“While amendments made to the legislation in committee attempt to resolve concerns, they barely scratch the surface of fixing the bill’s fundamental flaws. We believe that is why several Senators who voted yes today did not commit to supporting the bill on the Senate floor.
“The Inflation Reduction Act lowered drug prices for millions of Americans. PREVAIL could undermine those gains and take us in the opposite direction keeping drug prices high, and enabling drug companies to raise them further. We urge the full Senate to reject PREVAIL and instead focus on the bipartisan patent reform policies currently in Congress that will increase competition and lower drug prices for all Americans.”
BACKGROUND
- Americans already pay between three and eight times what people in other wealthy nations pay for the exact same brand-name drugs.
- S. 2220, the PREVAIL Act, would weaken mechanisms that can help reduce drug prices by making it harder to challenge potentially invalid patents – a critical tool that helps the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office maintain patent quality and protect consumers from monopolistic practices.
- Between 2005 and 2015, 74 percent of the new drug patents issued were for drugs already on the market. Of the roughly 100 best-selling drugs in another study, nearly 80 percent obtained an additional patent to extend their monopoly period.
- P4ADNow sent a letter to all the members of the Committee urging them to vote against S. 2220.
- P4ADNow supports the following patent reform bills;
- In the House: H.R. 6986 to address patent thickets; H.R. 9070, the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act; H.R. 1717, the Interagency Patent Coordination and Improvement Act; and, H.R. 5429, the Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act.
- In the Senate: S. 142, to ban pay-for-delay agreements; S. 148 and S. 1067, to reform the citizen petition process; and S. 79 to establish a task force between USPTO and FDA to improve communication in the implementation of each agency’s patent-related activities.
The Senate has already unanimously passed an amended version of S. 150. These Senate bills are estimated to save taxpayers $4.5 billion over the next 10 years.
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Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, is the only national, patient advocacy organization focused exclusively on policies to lower drug prices. We empower and mobilize patients and allies, hold accountable those in power, and fight to shape and achieve system-changing policies that make prescription drugs affordable for all people in the United States. P4ADNow is bipartisan and does not accept funding from organizations that profit from the development or distribution of prescription drugs. To learn more visit PatientsForAffordableDrugsNOW.org.