A box of Ozempic and contents sits on a table in Dudley, North Tyneside, Great Britain, October 31, 2023.
Lee Smith | Reuters
The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it is challenging hundreds of drug companies' so-called “junk” patents covering 20 brand-name drugs, including Novo Nordisk blockbuster drugs Ozempic, Saxenda and Victoza.
The FTC has sent letters to ten companies, warning them that certain drug patents were wrongly listed. These companies include Novo Nordisk, AstraZenecaBoehringer Ingelheim, Covis Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Teva Pharmaceuticals And Amphastar pharmaceutical productsas well as some of their subsidiaries.
Many of the drug patents cover type 2 diabetes, along with asthma and inhalers for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Most top-selling drugs are protected by dozens of patents covering various ingredients, manufacturing processes and intellectual property. Generic drug manufacturers can only market cheaper versions of a brand-name drug if the patents have expired or have been successfully challenged in court.
“By filing false patent citations, pharmaceutical companies block competition and drive up the cost of prescription drugs, forcing Americans to pay sky-high prices for the drugs they depend on,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a press release. “By challenging junk patent applications, the FTC is combating these illegal tactics and ensuring that Americans can get timely access to innovative and affordable versions of the medicines they need.”
The FTC has also notified the Food and Drug Administration of the challenges. The FDA manages patent lists for approved drugs in a document called the Orange Book.
The FTC first challenged dozens of patents on brand-name drugs last fall, prompting three drug makers to comply with and expunge their patents with the FDA. Five other companies did not.
Tuesday's announcement expands the Biden administration's efforts to address alleged patent abuse by the pharmaceutical industry. The FTC has argued that drugmakers needlessly list dozens of additional patents on brand-name drugs to keep their drug prices high and keep generic competitors from entering the U.S. market.
The patent litigation adds to a broader effort by the Biden administration to make health care more affordable for Americans — a key pillar of President Joe Biden's 2024 reelection campaign.