[Ip-health] CA Atty Gen sues pharm for colluding to delay generic entry; Senators introduce legislation banning same

[Jay Purcell]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
   CA:


   CA Atty Gen + FTC sue Solvay pharm for paying off generic competitor to
   delay entry (
   http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-ftc5-2009feb05,0,5897259.story)
<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-ftc5-2009feb05,0,5897259.story>


   & complaint
   <http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/pdfs/n1672_complaint.pdf> & press
   release <http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1672>





   Europe:


   Attached EU Competition Report slamming the same practices... (
   http://ec.europa.eu/competition/sectors/pharmaceuticals/inquiry/index.html
<http://ec.europa.eu/competition/sectors/pharmaceuticals/inquiry/index.html>




   Senate:


   S369 - http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.369:


   *Senators Introduce Legislation To End Agreements Between Brand-Name,
   Generic Pharmaceutical Companies*
   [Feb 05, 2009]

      Sens. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday
announced that they have introduced a bill (S
369<http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.369:>)
to end agreements under which brand-name pharmaceutical companies pay
generic pharmaceutical companies to delay the launch of generic versions of
the medications, CQ HealthBeat reports. According to Kohl and Grassley, the
number of such agreements has increased since two appeals court decisions in
2005 allowed them. In the statement, Kohl and Grassley, who introduced
similar legislation last year, said, "In the two years after these two
decisions, the Federal Trade Commission <http://www.ftc.gov/> has found
nearly half of all patent settlements involved payments from the brand-name
to the generic manufacturer in return for an agreement by the generic to
keep its drug off the market."

Kohl, chair of the Senate Judiciary Antitrust, Competition Policy and
Consumer Rights
Subcommittee<http://judiciary.senate.gov/about/subcommittees/antitrust.cfm>,
said, "It's time to stop these drug company pay-for-delay deals that only
serve the profits of the companies involved and deny consumers access to
affordable generic drugs." Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Finance
Committee <http://finance.senate.gov/>, added, "In a time when our federal
health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid are facing extraordinary
fiscal strains, this wheeling and dealing only delays the entry of
lower-priced medicines in the marketplace."

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
<http://www.phrma.org/> Senior
Vice President Ken Johnson said that the group "continues to believe that
legislation imposing a blanket ban on certain types of patent settlements
could decrease the value of patents and reduce incentives for future
innovation." He added, "A sweeping ban is also unnecessary" because FTC and
others "already have the authority to review and evaluate any patent
settlement agreement between a brand-name company and a generic company."

FTC on Monday in U.S. District Court in California filed a lawsuit
against Solvay
Pharmaceuticals <http://www.solvaypharmaceuticals.com/> over allegations
that agreements with three generic pharmaceutical companies illegally
delayed the launch of lower-cost generic versions of the hormone replacement
therapy AndroGel (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 2/4).

*Editorial *
The agreement between Solvay and the three generic pharmaceutical companies
"keeps prices high" for medications, and "Solvay's gain was the consumer's
loss," according to a Los Angeles
Times<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-ftc5-2009feb05,0,5897259.story>
editorial.
According to the editorial, such agreements are "anti-competitive and bad
for consumers," and although "companies such as Solvay deserve patent
protection," consumers have a "strong interest in making sure that generic
drugs become available as soon as legally appropriate." The editorial
concludes, "At this point, there's little to be gained, at least for
consumers, from backroom deals made by interested corporate parties" (Los
Angeles Times, 2/5).

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____________________________________________________________________
j. purcell // purcell@berkeley.edu // uc berkeley law school  //
us#415.694.8778
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[ EU 2008 Prelim Report - Pharma Compet.pdf of type application/pdf deleted ]