December 19, 2025
TOPLINE
In case you missed it, members of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate recently called on the U.S. Department of Commerce to prioritize cracking down on Big Pharma’s egregious abuse of the patent system, particularly around brand name drug companies’ use of patent thickets to block competition from more affordable alternatives to high-priced biologic drugs.
In a letter on December 5, U.S. Representatives Jodey Arrington (R-TX-19), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-35), August Pfluger (R-TX-11) and U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) urged U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to consider endorsing solutions, including the bipartisan Eliminating Thickets to Increase Competition (ETHIC) Act, which was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate in July, to crack down on Big Pharma’s abuse of the patent system. A U.S. House companion version of the bill was introduced in May.
“Duplicative patent thickets create significant barriers to market entry for biosimilars and generics, delaying access to affordable medications and sustaining high drug prices for patients,” the December 5 letter states. “As a bipartisan group of members committed to lowering drug prices, we write to urge the U.S. Department of Commerce to prioritize addressing the issue of patent thickets surrounding branded pharmaceutical products, particularly biologics, as a critical pro-competition reform.” Read the full lawmaker letter to Secretary Lutnick HERE.
Also, during a U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing last Friday, U.S. Representative Dave Taylor (R-OH-02) called on his fellow lawmakers to shine a light on the egregious prices set by Big Pharma on blockbuster brand name drugs by advancing the bipartisan Drug-price Transparency for Consumers (DTC) Act. This commonsense solution to boost list price transparency was introduced in the U.S. House by Taylor and U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09) in June. A U.S. Senate version of the bill was reintroduced by U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) in January.
The bill would require Big Pharma to disclose the price of their products in advertising targeted directly to consumers. This would help shine a light on Big Pharma’s egregious pricing practices — arming policymakers and the public with greater transparency into the prices set by manufacturers on blockbuster brand name products, serving as a deterrent to price-gouging and empowering patients with useful information as they weigh the best treatment options for their individual health care needs. Watch Representative Taylor’s full remarks from the Energy and Commerce hearing HERE.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“Current patent thicket schemes undermine competitive frameworks that are
intended to reduce costs for the patient and the Medicare program as a whole.”
U.S. Representative Jodey Arrington (R-TX), U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), U.S. Representative August Pfluger (R-TX) and U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-VT)
DATA POINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
66.7 Percent
An American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) survey found that two-thirds – 66.7 percent – of pharmaceutical companies did not proactively disclose their drugs’ launch prices between 2022 and 2024.
TWEETS OF THE WEEK
@Runaway_Rx: “If biosimilars can lower health costs, why aren’t more on the market? It’s because #BigPharma works hard to block more affordable competitors from entering the market so their prices can remain sky-high. Read more about how Big Pharma is abusing the patent system to block affordable generic drugs in @KFF. #TheProblemIsThePrice”
@realtahiramin: “Get ready for pharma companies to ratchet up ‘lifecycle management’ strategies under the language of ‘innovation’ to squeeze even more $ from their blockbusters as they all chase the new $1T benchmark set by Eli Lilly”
ROAD TO RECOVERY
The Minnesota Star Tribune: Opinion: Minnesota Can’t Let Big Pharma Hike Prices Unchecked
Our tax dollars fund the research and development of nearly every new drug on the market. Pharmaceutical companies profit most from medicines built with public funding, then turn around and charge us outrageous prices. In 2021, a U.S. Senate report showed that 50 executives from just 10 companies received $1.9 billion. They stood to gain an additional $2.8 billion in golden parachutes, while every Minnesotan pays the price. Whether it’s at the pharmacy counter or through rising insurance premiums, we all shoulder the burden of unchecked corporate greed. That’s why Minnesota’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) matters… By setting upper payment limits, similar to those implemented in Maryland and Colorado, we ensure that prices are capped and that Big Pharma can’t hike prices unchecked, which helps us build a fairer system where people’s health and lives take priority over corporate profits.
PHARMA’S POOR PROGNOSIS
Fierce Pharma: Many Consumers Don't Like TV Drug Ads' Frequency, 'Misleading' Visuals: SiriusXM Study
A new survey from SiriusXM Media details the issues that many people have with the current state of TV drug ads—and highlights an opportunity for greater investment in audio ads instead. The pharma- and healthcare-focused report comprises responses from more than 2,100 adult listeners of the audio broadcasting giant’s channels, which include the subscription-based SiriusXM and Pandora music and podcast services. Almost 80% of those surveyed said they think there are too many pharma ads on TV and streaming video. Regarding those visual ads, about half of the respondents suggested that the typically “pleasant and happy” imagery feels “unrealistic or out of touch” when shown alongside information about a drug’s potential side effects. Indeed, 45% said those visuals are “misleading,” while 28% called them “distracting,” and 40% said they can make the listed side effects seem less serious.
Bloomberg: One Generic Cancer Drug Costs $35. Or $134. Or $13,000.
Ida Martin’s first chemotherapy treatment at Rush University Medical Center cost her health plan $13,560. When she went down the street to a clinic for her next infusion three weeks later, the price dropped to $134. “Same drug, different prices,” said Martin, a 62-year-old cook with colon cancer. The clinic was even still within the Rush system. “It’s ridiculous.” Health spending in the US now tops $5 trillion a year with families and companies facing their steepest insurance premium hikes in years. Politicians often blame pharmaceutical companies, insurers, wasteful procedures and a bloated system too tangled to tame.
CBS News: A Mom Was Overjoyed When She Learned A Drug Could Save Her Baby's Life. Then She Learned It Cost $2 Million.
Ciji Green's daughter, Maisie, was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, causing her muscles to waste away. The disease is often fatal before age 2 without treatment. In 2019, a genetic therapy was approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat SMA, but the single-dose therapy costs $2 million. Green's insurance said it wouldn't pay for the new, expensive drug. "I became very angry, to know that there was something that could help her. And I knew without a shadow of a doubt I was burying my daughter before she was 2," Green said.
The Hill: Opinion: The Pharmaceutical Industry’s Frequent Flyers And Empty Promises
“Affordability” is the watchword in American politics today. Inflation is squeezing families, but nothing hits harder than the cost of trying to stay alive. Yet as patients weigh whether they can afford their prescriptions, private jets owned by six of the largest U.S. drugmakers touched down at Washington-area airports at least 127 times this year, according to flight-tracking data compiled by Endpoints News. That contrast paints a telling picture. The United States pays nearly three times what other wealthy nations pay for prescription drugs. Millions of Americans skip doses, split pills or leave prescriptions unfilled. In 2023, more than one-quarter of adults delayed or avoided care because they simply couldn’t afford it. Those private planes aren’t ferrying pharmaceutical executives to Washington to push for drug affordability and patient access — they’re there to defend the obscene profits built on the backs of American families.
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