Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
Senators and industry players are jockeying over whether a bipartisan bill aimed at cracking down on patent abuse and lowering drug prices will be included in a health care package potentially coming to the Senate floor.
Why it matters: The bill from Sens. John Cornyn and Richard Blumenthal could lower drug prices for consumers by preventing tactics they say drug companies use to game the system and delay competition from cheaper generic drugs.
- But the path forward is far from smooth, given a range of competing interests.
Driving the news: The potential vehicle is a package Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is putting together, which may also cap insulin costs at $35 per month for people with private health insurance and overhaul pharmacy benefit manager practices.
- Blumenthal told Axios he has spoken with Schumer about including his patent bill and he thinks it is "likely" to be part of the package.
- But Blumenthal's GOP partner, Cornyn, is more wary of including the measure, because he might end up opposing the package over other pieces — including the insulin cap, which he called "price fixing."
- "I'm not quite sure what [Schumer] has in mind yet, but I'm fearful that he's going to put some stink bomb in the package which will bring down everything else," Cornyn told Axios.
Between the lines: The measure — which seeks to prevent "product hopping," in which a drug company makes small changes to a drug to try to extend its period of exclusivity — also plays into a battle between drug companies and PBMs.
- PhRMA is opposed to the bill, saying it would "create an unnecessary FTC enforcement cloud over almost any post-approval research and development."
- "This would be devastating for patients since R&D that happens after FDA approval increases treatment options," PhRMA spokesperson Megan Van Etten said. "This progress should not be punished.”
- PCMA, the PBM trade group, supports it. "Putting a stop to drug companies’ common and egregious, anti-competitive abuses of the drug patent system is fundamental to increasing competition in the market that will lead to lower prescription drug costs for employers and patients," PCMA spokesman Greg Lopes said in a statement.
- Lauren Aronson, executive director of the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing, which includes PBMs, hospitals and others, added: "It is disappointing, but not surprising, to hear the pharmaceutical industry is attempting to derail passage of this bipartisan, market-based solution while continuing to wage a bogus blame game targeting others in the supply chain."
What's next: Schumer said on the floor last week that the insulin package is one of the items he wants to "begin the process of advancing" during this work period, which ends in late June.
- It's unclear what the exact timeline is or if the package could slip. Schumer's office did not respond to a request for comment.
The bottom line: Even if the insulin package could get 60 votes, it is unlikely to move in the GOP House. So the bigger fight over these policies could come later, in an end-of-year package that also has to extend health measures like community health center funding.
