Letter from Sens Warren & Sanders and Reps Porter & Jayapal to Dir. Vidal at USPTO urging review of Merck's attempt to extend patent protection on Keytruda.

"These efforts by Merck appear to be part of a long-standing pattern of drug manufacturers’ abuse of the patent system."

Merck's has "filed 129 patents linked to Keytruda which could extend the period of exclusivity ... nearly a decade past its expected end date."

https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2023.02.22%20Letter%20to%20USPTO%20re%20Keytruda%20patent1.pdf

#patents
#pharmaceuticals
#BigPharma
#OrangeBook

Cornyn, Blumenthal Introduce Bill to Lower Drug Costs by Preventing Patent System Abuse

“The pharmaceutical industry’s shameless abuse of the patent system has driven costs sky-high for consumers by keeping generics off the market and stifling innovation,” said Sen. Blumenthal.

Much needed reform to prevent product hopping and repeated assertions of different patents for producers of biologics.

Let's hope this has some teeth.

https://www.texasgopvote.com/government/cornyn-blumenthal-introduce-bill-lower-drug-costs-preventing-patent-system-abuse-0014956

#patents #OrangeBook #pharmaceuticals

"Patent reform and lower drug prices should be bipartisan priorities"

BY TAHIR AMIN AND PRITI KRISHTEL

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/3829865-patent-reform-and-lower-drug-prices-should-be-bipartisan-priorities/

#patents #pharmaceutical #BigPharma #generic #OrangeBook

We just saw this on the birdsite from @wbfeldman. Similar observation to ours regarding devices and just published in JAMA. Great that this aspect of patent manipulation is getting attention!

https://twitter.com/wbfeldman/status/1610329075918184451

From 2000-2021, manufacturers earned $111 billion on brand-name #inhalers in the US AFTER patents on their active ingredients had expired.
How?
By patenting other aspects of the products (e.g., delivery devices).

#patents #pharmaceuticals #generics #BigPharma #OrangeBook

We looked at 824 patents protecting most of the top 200 selling pharmaceuticals for claims not meeting criteria espoused by the FTC for delisting on the Orange Book. We focused primarily on device patents, but also stumbled over some process patents and packing methods that probably run afoul of the FTC brief as well. Fell free to have a look on our website.

https://patent-reviews.com/f/rems-and-the-orange-book-%E2%80%93-part-ii

#patents #pharmaceuticals #generics #BigPharma #OrangeBook