Biden administration asserts power to seize drug patents in move to slash high prices

The Biden administration on Thursday opened the door to seizing the patents of certain costly medications from drugmakers in a new push to slash high drug prices and promote more pharmaceutical competition.

The administration unveiled a framework outlining the factors federal agencies should consider in deciding whether to use a controversial policy, known as march-in rights, to take patents for drugs developed with taxpayer funds and share them with other pharmaceutical companies if the public cannot “reasonably” access the medications. Doing so could lead to the development of lower-priced generic alternatives, which could cut into key drug companies’ profits and reduce costs for patients.

For the first time, officials can now factor in a medication’s price in deciding to break a patent.

“We’ll make it clear that when drug companies won’t sell taxpayer-funded drugs at reasonable prices, we will be prepared to allow other companies to provide those drugs for less,” White House National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard said during a call with reporters Wednesday. 

It is unclear whether and how federal agencies will use march-in rights under the new framework. Notably, “no agency to date” has exercised the policy, which came about under the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, a senior administration official told reporters Wednesday.

The framework will be open to public comment for 60 days.

The administration’s announcement follows a nearly nine-month review of the federal government’s march-in rights, which aimed to update the framework for using the policy.

It also comes as President Joe Biden makes lowering U.S. drug prices a key pillar of his health-care agenda and reelection platform for 2024. 

Political pressure has pushed health-care companies…