Pressure group attacks big pharma over patent impropriety

I-MAK, a pressure group composed of lawyers, health professionals and academics, has published a report excoriating pharma giants for allegedly exploiting patent laws in order to drive up prices.

The report, titled Overpatented, Overpriced: How excessive pharmaceutical patenting is extending monopolies and driving up drug prices pours scorn on industry giants including Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN), Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB) and Roche (ROG: SIX) subsidiary Genentech.

AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) is singled out for a harsh critique, as the manufacturer of the world's biggest drug by revenue and as the company with the highest number of patent applications. I-MAK claims that Humira (adalimumab) has been the subject of 247 patent applications, cutting off generic competition for nearly half a century and all while AbbVie raises its price by 144% in the last six years. The Food and Drug Administration has approved two biosimilars, but AbbVie has successfully warded them off from launching until at least 2023.