A group of 100 Members of Congress led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Lloyd Doggett has sent a letter to DHHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, asking him to take actions to lower U.S. drug prices. The letter specifically asks him to “utilize administrative authorities, including government patent use compulsory licensing under 28 U.S.C. 1498 and march-in and royalty-free rights under the Bayh-Dole Act.” These actions would introduce generic and biosimilar competition for drugs developed with U.S.-taxpayer funding.
The letter notes that American drug prices are 2.5 as high as prices in comparable countries, and that many Americans have trouble paying for needed medicines, even though taxpayers fund billions of dollars in the early-stage pharmaceutical R&D. It predicts that federal action to address high prices would be “extraordinarily popular – about 80 percent of voters favor breaking patent monopolies to reduce drug prices.”
The Senators and Representatives note that before before becoming Secretary of DHHS, then-Representative Becerra signed onto a similar request to the Obama Administration.
