Amid a push to crack down on patent abuse by the pharmaceutical trade, a key U.S. lawmaker is urging six giant drug firms to take away dozens of patents that have been recognized by regulators as improperly or inaccurately listed with a federal registry.
In a sequence of letters despatched on Thursday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) demanded the businesses clarify why they’ve, thus far, not responded to warnings issued two months in the past by the Federal Commerce Fee to take away greater than 100 patents from the registry. The company threatened the drug firms with litigation in the event that they didn’t comply.
The FTC had challenged a complete of 10 firms over listings for patents on such medicines as bronchial asthma inhalers and epinephrine auto-injectors as a part of an effort to mitigate actions that thwart competitors. Among the many firms to which the company despatched warnings are AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Mylan Specialty, Boehringer Ingelheim, and subsidiaries of GSK and Teva Pharmaceutical.