Washington, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced new action today to challenge 100+ patents of brand name inhalers, epinephrine auto injectors and more — which follows the Commission’s passage of a policy statement condemning improper listing of patents in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Orange Book. In response, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement:

“We’re thrilled to see the FTC crack down on over a hundred sham Orange Book listings, which keep life-saving medicines like asthma inhalers and epinephrine prohibitively expensive for those who need them most,” said Erik Peinert, Research Manager and Editor at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Big Pharma has been intentionally gaming the United States’ drug safety system to block other manufacturers from making and selling the same treatments at lower prices. Today’s action from the FTC gives teeth to its policy statement in September and proves that the Commission is serious about reining in the pharmaceutical industry’s profiteering and illegal behavior.”

Read Erik Peinert and Morgan Harper’s oped in The Hill, “A policy win for Biden that would help us all breathe easier,” for more background.  

Read “The Cost of Pharma Cheating” for more information.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

###

The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.