Slimmed-Down Drug Patent Crackdown Bill Progresses in Senate

A bill to stop drug manufacturers from creating “patent thickets” to stave off generic competition won Senate passage today, following a years-long bipartisan effort to lower drug prices with changes to the US patent system.

The legislation (S. 150), which the chamber passed by unanimous consent, is a slimmed-down version of the proposed bill and seeks to limit the number of number of patents a drugmaker can use in a patent infringement lawsuit against a company trying to make a biosimilar version of their product.

“Some companies are abusing the system: they’re taking extreme steps to maintain their ...