MEDIA ADVISORY
“With everyone from patients to the president demanding action on drug pricing, AAM welcomes the introduction of the Preserving Access to Cost Effective Drugs (“PACED”) Act of 2018. This legislation will put a stop to the recent anticompetitive ploy made infamous by Allergan when it rented sovereign immunity from a Native American tribe to avoid legitimate review of disputed patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).
Our position paper addresses the HHS FY19 Budget as released on Feb 19, 2018. AAM holds:
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 12, 2018) In its newest white paper, released today, the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) finds that generics and biosimilars continue to provide savings for patients, but that uninterrupted patient access to these affordable prescription medicines is at risk.
The landscape around us looks much different today than it did just one year ago. As our industry changes within the evolving pharmaceutical ecosystem, we must speak with one voice to drive home the message that a robust generic drug and biosimilars marketplace is necessary to sustain affordable health care.
Patient health and well-being depends on the uninterrupted availability of lower-cost generic and biosimilar medicines. Moreover, as patients live longer the importance of a robust and sustainable generic and biosimilar medicines industry becomes only that much more important. Policymakers must act quickly to ensure continued saving and market-based competition, as well as prevent shortages, for future availability of affordable medicines. This requires:
Abusing the patent and regulatory systems to prolong a brand drug’s monopoly— a practice commonly referred to as “evergreening”— is increasingly being used as a tactic to delay patient access to more affordable, FDA-approved generic and biosimilar medicines.
Association for Accessible Medicines is calling on Congress to take meaningful action to lower prescription drug costs with the Prescription for Savings. Patients win when market-based competition from FDA-approved generics and biosimilars deliver savings at the pharmacy counter.
To this end, we recommend these seven policy solutions:
In September 2017, Allergan, the maker of Restasis, adopted an unprecedented strategy: it paid the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe millions of dollars to rent its tribal sovereign immunity in a blatant effort to shield the patents on Restasis from review. The maneuver has deservedly attracted attention in the media (see The New Yorker and Fortune) and, now, the House Judiciary Committee.
In September 2017, Allergan adopted an unprecedented strategy: it paid millions of dollars to rent the sovereign immunity of a Native American Tribe, and now claims that its patents are beyond the reach of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). In effect, Allergan's patents are seeking asylum on tribal lands.
AAM has joined nine other prominent health care organizations, including America’s Health Insurance Plans, American Hospital Association and American College of Physicians, to send a letter to Capitol Hill encouraging and applauding congressional oversight of Allergan’s sale of its patent for Restasis® to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.