Opinion

Big Pharma active in blocking patients from affordable medicine

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on drug pricing, on Capitol Hill Feb. 26. With Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal and others, Cornyn has introduced the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2019. less Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on drug pricing, on Capitol Hill Feb. 26. With Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal and others, Cornyn has introduced the ... more Photo: ERIN SCHAFF /NYT Photo: ERIN SCHAFF /NYT Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Big Pharma active in blocking patients from affordable medicine 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Across the country, millions of patients are struggling to afford lifesaving medications. Skyrocketing prescription drug prices and price-gouging efforts by the big drug companies are leaving families cash-strapped and desperate for relief.

Today, Americans pay up to 65 percent more than citizens in other Western countries for the same prescription drugs. According to a recent study, the average American now spends $1,200 per year out-of-pocket on prescription drugs. At the same time, Big Pharma is posting record profits. In fact, the 10 largest U.S.-based drug manufacturers combined earned a stunning $245 billion in revenue in just one year.

Rising prescription drug prices are due in large part to Big Pharma’s manipulation of the U.S. patent system. Fortunately, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have heeded the call to action. Texas’ senior U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, along with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and others, recently introduced the bipartisan Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2019. This bill will crack down on Big Pharma’s anti-competitive tactics and allow for easier access to safe, affordable generic alternatives. This is a smart, bipartisan solution that is an important step toward lowering drug prices.

Studies show that generic competition dramatically reduces drug prices. With access to generic and biosimilar drugs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimates that costs reduce to just 20 percent on average of Big Pharma’s sticker prices. Generics saved American consumers a total of $265 billion in 2017.

Not surprising, Big Pharma has already begun to fight tooth and nail to defeat this bill and mislead Americans because keeping the status quo intact serves its best interest.

We witnessed that in a recent op-ed written by Texas Republican political consultant Matt Mackowiak who, despite having no apparent policy background or expertise in patent law or even health care, opined that patent protection is critical to innovation (“Compromise would protect creation of lifesaving drugs,” Other Views, Monday). “If Congress advances legislation that punishes innovator companies that invent the new lifesaving medicines that generics copy, that will discourage new inventions to treat new diseases,” Mr. Mackowiak wrote in criticizing the Cornyn-Blumenthal legislation.

What Mr. Mackowiak failed to mention is that according to one recent study, Big Pharma spends roughly twice as much every year on high-priced lobbyists, political consultants, advertising and financial support to outside interest groups than it does on research and development for patients. The big drug companies know that efforts by Sen. Cornyn and others to lower drug prices will hit their bottom line and so they’re desperate to stop it.

In fact, in several key areas, Mr. Mackowiak did not even accurately describe either the Cornyn-Blumenthal bill or the patent review process in general. The Cornyn-Blumenthal bill has nothing to do with inter partes review as he claimed, but instead simply clarifies that anti-competitive uses of patent thicketing and product hopping are a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The FTC, which is tasked with policing our competition laws, is given the authority to bring legal action and permitted to seek remedies on the public’s behalf in response to abuse of the patent system by Big Pharma.

The truth is, profit-driven pharmaceutical companies use underhanded tactics and misleading opinion pieces by political consultants like this as part of a campaign to block commonsense, bipartisan efforts like the one that’s been proposed by Sens. Cornyn and Blumenthal. The goal, of course, is to allow Big Pharma to maintain a nearly-unbreakable monopoly on its products while reaping billions in profits.

Sens. Cornyn and Blumenthal should be praised for their leadership in this effort. Soaring drug costs don’t just hurt the patients who take prescription medication — they raise insurance premiums for every American whether sick or healthy. According to Blue Cross Blue Shield, rising prescription drug costs are the single biggest reason for growing health insurance premiums.

Solutions that keep Big Pharma from abusing our patent system will not stifle the development of new drugs. With healthy competition, we can still spur innovation and ensure that patients have access to affordable, lifesaving treatments.

Matthew Lane is the executive director of the Coalition Against Patent Abuse.