The Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act would bring America’s biopharmaceutical industry under further government control.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz have pivoted hard to the center in recent weeks in their bid for the White House. But their records indicate that they’d launch even more government intervention in the healthcare market.
Harris was the most progressive member of the Senate during her tenure and campaigned for president in 2020 on the promise of a government takeover of the health insurance system. That same year, Walz signed a bill to cap insulin costs. Last year, he created a state-run board with the power to cap drug prices.
We can expect a Harris-Walz administration, if elected, to take steps to bring America’s biopharmaceutical industry under further government control.
Unfortunately, they won’t be alone in their quest. Last year, Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Mike Braun, R-Ind., introduced the Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act. Their bill aims to lower prescription drug costs by preventing drug companies from supposedly «abusing» the patent system to stifle competition.
In pursuit of that goal, the bill — which is set to be marked up by the Senate HELP Committee in September — would require drug companies to disclose reams of data and other information to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, even if that information was already submitted to the FDA and isn’t directly relevant to a drug’s patentability.
But there are several problems with the bill. There is no evidence drug companies abuse patent protections to stifle competition — quite the opposite.
