USA's House of Reps passes patent settlement (pay-to-delay generics) legislation as part of the war funding bill

Ahead of the July 4/5 Independence Day holiday weekend, the US House of Representatives passed a package of amendments to the War Funding Bill (HR 4899) that included the 'Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act,' which is intended to curb pharmaceutical patent settlement agreements - so-called 'pay-for-delay' deals between research-based pharmaceutical companies and generic drugmakers.

According to the law firm Hyman, Phelps & McNamara's FDA Law Blog, the amendment appears to be identical to one Senators Herb Kohl (Democrat, Wisconsin), Charles Grassley (Republican, Iowa) and Susan Collins (Republican, Maine) introduced during the Senate's consideration of the Tax Extenders Act (HR 4213).

The bill, approved by a House vote of 239 to 182 against, will now have to be passed by the Senate ' where it appears to have bipartisan support. It would amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to permit the FTC to 'initiate a proceeding to enforce the provisions of [new Sec. 28] against the parties to any agreement resolving or settling, on a final or interim basis, a patent infringement claim, in connection with the sale of a drug product.'