Diverse Group Asks Congress to Reject Changes to the IPR Process
In letters addressed to leaders of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, the senior executives of organizations, including America’s Health Insurance Plans, AARP, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association and the Generic Pharmaceutical Association shared their views on the America Invents Act, the PATENT Act of 2015 and the Inter Partes Review process.
AHIP Interim CEO Dan Durham cautioned that “these unwarranted patent extensions increase the cost of drugs and insurance coverage without doing anything to deliver better care or improve quality.” He stressed that “the IPR holds great promise” for reducing such anti-competitive pricing schemes, “which is an important step toward addressing the unsustainable costs of prescription drugs.”
The group strongly encouraged the committee members to reject any modifications to the PATENT Act that would reduce the effectiveness of the Inter Partes Review process.
NCPSSM Asks Congress to Oppose an IPR Pharma Exemption
In letters addressed to both the House and the Senate, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicaid asked Congress to oppose efforts to exempt brand name pharmaceutical makers from the IPR process.
In his letters to Congress, NCPSSM President and CEO Max Richtman offered his view that an IPR carve-out for brand name drug manufacturers could threaten the stability of Medicare and Medicaid: “Medicare and Medicaid are vitally important programs for seniors. Soaring prescription drug prices threaten to undermine their stability and an IPR carve-out for brand drug manufacturers would only make matters worse. The National Committee therefore urges you to oppose including the exemption of brand pharmaceutical makers from the IPR review process in S. 1137.”