Cornyn-Grassley Bill to Lower Drug Costs Passes Senate Unanimously

Cornyn-Grassley Bill to Lower Drug Costs Passes Senate Unanimously

Legislation would crack down on patent system abuse

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) welcomed the Senate's unanimous passage of the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act, which would help lower drug prices by preventing bad actors in the pharmaceutical industry from deliberately abusing the patent system. The legislation is led by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and also cosponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley advanced the legislation through committee in April 2025.

"The steep price of life-saving medication puts a major strain on Iowans," Grassley said. "Our bipartisan bill will help reduce the cost of prescription drugs by ending the abusive practice of blocking generic and biosimilar drugs from entering the market. I want to thank my colleagues for their unanimous support of our legislation, and I'll keep working to get this bill to the president's desk."

"Texans ought to be able to access their treatments and medications without breaking the bank," Cornyn said. "By putting an end to the anti-competitive practice of patent thicketing, this legislation would encourage innovation, ensure generics can enter the market, and prevent prescription costs from increasing, and I urge the House to swiftly send it to President Trump's desk to become law."

"For too long, pharmaceutical companies have been allowed to abuse the patent system, stifling innovation and driving up costs for consumers," Blumenthal said. "This legislation cracks down on drug companies' manipulative and exploitative practices, promoting competition and lowering prescription drug costs for patients."

"Big Pharma often manipulates the patent system to maximize their profits while patients struggle to pay for their necessary medications. These practices stifle competition, delay innovation, and prevent Americans from accessing lower-cost drugs," Durbin said. "I'm glad the Senate passed our Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act to ensure that we're looking out for patients, not Big Pharma."

Background:

Some pharmaceutical manufacturers have been deliberately abusing the patent system to prevent potential competitors from entering the marketplace using tactics like patent thickets, which slow the entry of lower-cost biosimilar products.

The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act puts an end to practices that prioritize profits for pharmaceutical companies ahead of Americans' health. By stopping abuses in the patent system, the legislation paves the way for biosimilars to compete with branded drugs and aggressively lower drug prices for consumers in the process.

Biosimilars are similar to generic drugs, but for biologic medicines. In 2010, Congress enacted a law designed to resolve any patent litigation quickly before a biosimilar is introduced to the market, creating a patent dispute resolution process known as the "patent dance." Under current law, however, there are no limits on the number of patents that a branded manufacturer of biologics can assert during the patent dance - leading some companies to abuse a process designed to facilitate biosimilar entry, not hinder it.

This bill places a reasonable limit on the number of patents a manufacturer can assert when voluntarily participating in the patent dance, preventing a "patent thicket." This will help deter branded manufacturers of biologics from gaming the system to increase the number of patents they assert, while preserving the incentives provided by the patent system to encourage the core innovation that produces new biologic treatments in the first place.

Learn more about Grassley's persistent efforts to lower prescription drug costs HERE.

Full text of the legislation can be found HERE.

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