FTC testifies on antitrust concerns and the FDA approval process

In testimony presented to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commerical and Antitrust Law, the USA’s Federal Trade Commission described its efforts to stop anticompetitive conduct in the pharmaceutical industry.

Testifying on behalf of the FTC, Acting Director of the Bureau of Competition, Markus Meier noted that the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Act established a carefully balanced framework to facilitate introduction of lower-cost generic drugs in the marketplace while preserving incentives for innovation. However, some drug manufacturers have exploited certain features of the Act, with the result that their exclusive rights over branded drugs have extended well beyond the periods Congress provided to spur investments in innovation. At times, this has led to private windfalls at the public’s expense, according to the testimony.

“At the FTC, we’ve been fighting back against these efforts to keep prices artificially inflated,” the testimony stated. “In the years since the Hatch-Waxman Act was enacted, the Commission has pursued numerous antitrust enforcement actions involving both branded and generic firms.”