Welcome to the Week in Review.
Growing Attention to Patent Reform on Capitol Hill
The Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee each held hearings this week on drug development and access, with lawmakers from both parties highlighting industry practices that keep prices high. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) pointed to a particularly egregious example of AstraZeneca’s use of patent thickets, highlighting how the manufacturer patented a minor redesign to its inhaler cap — not the medicine itself — to delay competition from coming to market. And Sen. Hawley (R-MO) criticized pharmaceutical companies for gaming the patent system, stating that innovation “doesn’t do much good” if people can’t access the medications. With 9 in 10 voters saying healthcare, including prescription drug costs, will influence their vote in the 2026 midterms, prescription drug pricing continues to emerge as a winning bipartisan issue. Elected officials who continue to align themselves with the pharmaceutical industry do so at their own political risk. — [Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Hawley]
FTC Finalizes Third PBM Settlement
The FTC reached a settlement with CVS Caremark on Tuesday, marking the final of three settlements with the nation’s largest Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), and resolving claims that CVS Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts, and OptumRx generated $7.4 billion by artificially inflating insulin prices. Included in the settlements are reforms that delink PBM compensation from list prices, base patient cost-sharing on a drug’s net price, and ensure fairer reimbursement to community pharmacies — long-overdue systemic adjustments that will help to drive greater transparency and fairness. PBMs and drugmakers alike must be held accountable for their abusive practices that drive up costs for patients, and we welcome these three settlements as checks on the power of three companies that control roughly 80% of prescriptions filled in the United States. — [FTC, P4AD, Axios, STAT News, Healthcare Finance]
Pharma M&A Market Booming in 2026, Undercutting Industry Fearmongering
It’s been nearly four years since Medicare negotiation was enacted, and despite years of industry fearmongering about the program’s impact on innovation, the biopharma sector remains exceptionally strong. Pharmaceutical companies have maintained — and in some cases increased — R&D investment, while merger and acquisition activity has been “booming” this year, with nearly four dozen acquisitions in the first half of 2026 alone. Even as the first round of lowered prices take effect and additional rounds move forward, there is little evidence that the law has slowed innovation. The U.S. remains the most lucrative pharmaceutical market in the world — just this week, Johnson and Johnson announced a record high $49.4 billion in sales for the first half of the year, putting them on track to be the first drugmaker with over $100 billion in annual sales. Medicare negotiation preserves strong incentives for innovation, and corporations continue to profit massively while Americans struggle to pay for their essential medications. — [Endpoints News, Protect Our Care]
ICYMI: In a newly published op-ed in Spanish for El Tiempo Latino, P4ADNow CEO Merith Basey celebrates the Supreme Court’s decision to decline six drugmaker petitions against Medicare negotiation, and calls on Congress to similarly reject Big Pharma’s efforts to block key reforms. With patients finally seeing reduced prices on the first ten drugs and continued rounds of negotiations underway, now is the time to protect and strengthen the government’s ability to secure a better deal for patients. You can read the full op-ed at the link here. — [El Tiempo Latino]