Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Backers of drug patent legislation aimed at lowering prices had their hopes raised and then dashed when a Senate overhaul bill was left off the House suspension calendar this week.
Why it matters: The bipartisan measure from Sens. John Cornyn and Richard Blumenthal, addressing "patent thickets" that critics say drug companies use to delay competition, is still in the mix for a lame duck package. But prospects for a quick House vote that would send it to President Biden's desk are off.
Driving the news: Backers of the bill, the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act, were buoyed last week when it was placed on the calendar of bills the House may consider under suspension of the rules this week.
- But when the weekly floor schedule came out from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise's office, the bill was not listed.
- Spokespeople for Scalise and Speaker Mike Johnson did not respond to requests for comment on why it was omitted.
Between the lines: In a rare move, the bill passed the Senate unanimously in July.
- The measure was scaled down from a version that had also targeted another patent abuse called product hopping, so that it only addressed thickets — the use of an array of patents on the same product to delay competition from cheaper generic drugs.
- That made the measure less objectionable to the pharmaceutical industry, but it still has concerns.
- Asked whether PhRMA pushed to delay or prevent a House vote, spokesperson Megan Van Etten said: "I can't speak to the House calendar, but as we've said in the past, research-based biopharma manufacturers have concerns with Congress prohibiting innovators from enforcing lawfully granted patents."
