Senate Judiciary Advances Bills To Increase Generic, Biosimilar Access

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Thursday (July 29) to advance four bipartisan bills that aim to lower prescription drug costs by increasing the availability of generic and biosimilar products through antitrust and patent reforms. The bills would penalize brand drug makers that file “sham” citizen petitions with FDA, restrict the use of so-called pay-for-delay agreements, require the Federal Trade Commission to probe anticompetitive actions by pharmacy benefit managers, and curb the patent practice of product hopping. The vote came...