PREVAIL and PERA Bills Would Undermine Reforms, Extend Monopolies, and Keep Drug Prices High
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now strongly opposes the reintroduction of two harmful patent bills — the PREVAIL Act and the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act — which would further enable abuse of the patent system and prolong monopolies on brand-name medications.
“These dangerous bills would further rig the patent system in favor of the pharmaceutical industry,” said Merith Basey, Executive Director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “At a time when one in three Americans can’t afford their prescriptions, Congress should be working day and night to lower prices, but instead, Senators Tillis and Coons are siding with Big Pharma and helping the industry further entrench its power at the expense of patients”.
While nearly 90% of Americans say prescription drug prices are too high — and more than 9 in 10 voters across party lines believe Congress must act to lower them — these proposals move in the wrong direction. Today, 29 million Americans are considered “cost desperate,” struggling to afford the medications and care they need. Yet instead of reining in Big Pharma, Congress is poised to expand its power — even as nearly two-thirds of voters view pharmaceutical companies unfavorably and see them as one of the top drivers of high health care costs. A full 78% of voters believe drug companies are focused on profits, not patients. Advancing these bills would not only undermine popular reforms but also stifle competition and hand even more control to an industry voters know is rigging the system against them.
BACKGROUND
- Americans already pay between four and eight times what people in other wealthy nations pay for the exact same brand-name drugs.
- The PREVAIL Act would restrict key tools used to challenge weak or abusive pharmaceutical patents, weakening oversight and limiting the ability of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to ensure patent quality.
- The PERA Act would open the door to even broader patent protections for drugs, diagnostics, and other products, further locking in monopolies and blocking competition.
- 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.
- In September 2024, 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.