FTC Report on Drug Patent Settlements Shows Potential Pay-for-Delay Deals Decreased Substantially

In the year after the Supreme Court’s landmark antitrust decision in FTC v. Actavis, pharmaceutical companies entered into substantially fewer potential pay-for-delay patent dispute settlements, according to a new FTC staff report. In pay for delay, companies that hold patents for drugs pay other companies not to release similar drugs. The report summarizes data on patent settlements – which can arise between brand and generic drug companies – filed with the FTC and the Department of Justice during FY 2014 under the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. Generic drugs often cost less than brand drugs, helping to make medicines affordable for millions of American consumers and to keep health care costs down.