Patent Law

David Fischer posted the following at his Antitrust Review blog:

Yesterday [February 3, 2009], Senators Kohl and Grassley introduced a bill ?to prohibit brand-name drug manufacturers from using pay-off agreements to keep cheaper generic equivalents off the market.?  They titled their bill ?The Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act? (S. 369).  It is similar as the ?The Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act? (S. 316) that was introduced in the last Congress.  That bill did not reach the Senate floor.

A comparison of the findings [sections of S. 316 and S. 369] appears to show that over the last two years 1) prescription drugs are now a lower percentage of national health care spending , 2) a significantly larger share of the prescription drugs prescribed are generics and they make up a significantly larger share of prescription drug expenditures , and 3) generic drugs cost even less now (as compared to their brand-name counterparts).

See the full post here.

According to The Library of Congress' Thomas system the latest major action: 2/3/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.