Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
A divided Senate Judiciary Committee narrowly approved the PREVAIL Act 11–10 Thursday after multiple delays, including the bill getting abruptly pulled from a markup last week.
Why it matters: The controversial bill could have major implications for drug development and would raise the bar for challenging patents at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, as an alternative to going to the courts.
- Sponsors Chris Coons and Thom Tillis have argued that it's a much-needed update to make the current patent system less expensive and easier to navigate.
Driving the news: Senators on both sides of the aisle vigorously debated whether the bill would unintentionally increase drug prices for patients by making it easier for pharmaceutical companies to protect their intellectual property.
- Coons offered a manager's amendment that he said was aimed at addressing the drug cost concerns "to ensure that generic pharmaceutical companies and patient advocacy groups explicitly continue to have access to [the patent board] to challenge drug patents."
- Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Peter Welch and Richard Blumenthal said the manager's amendment and possible additional tweaks addressing drug costs were enough to secure their conditional support.
Still, Democrats Alex Padilla, Jon Ossoff and Sheldon Whitehouse voted against the bill.
- Sen. Josh Hawley, who joined six other Republicans in voting against the bill, said that he was also concerned about the prospect of potentially increasing patients' drug costs.
What we're watching: The divisions on the committee likely mean the bill won't be called up on the floor this Congress.
- The fate of another patent bill that was pulled last week, the PERA Act, is still unclear.
- PERA would alter which kind of inventions are eligible for patent protection and has implications for gene technology and other biotech discoveries.
