Trump Signs Bill Requiring FTC to Review Biosimilar Settlement Agreements

On October 10, 2018 President Trump signed into law the “Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act” (S.2554) which requires antitrust scrutiny of biosimilar settlements by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  The law amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to require Reference Product Sponsors and biosimilar applications to submit their settlement agreements to the FTC for review. The bill was introduced in March 2018 by Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Clair McCaskill (D-Missouri), and Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan).
 
The new law will allow the FTC to access the terms of a deal without seeking additional authority from the commission. It will also allow the FTC to track biosimilar deals and develop a data record of relevant terms, similar to what has been down with small molecule generics.
 
The law comes at an important time. Humira®, which is the best-selling drug in the world yielding more than $18 billion in sales in 2017, entered the market in Europe this past Tuesday on October 16, 2018. However, no biosimilars of Humira® are expected to enter the market in the US until at least 2023. This is because in the US, AbbVie not only maintains a robust patent portfolio protecting Humira®, it has also reached deals with multiple biosimilar manufacturers, including Amgen, Samsung Bioepis, Mylan, Sandoz, and as of yesterday, Fresenius Kabi, to hold off competition until 2023.
 
Apart from this new law, other legislations addressing settlement agreements are also moving forward in Congress. It will be interesting to see if these legislations will increase the entry of biosimilars on the US market.
 
We will keep you informed of any new developments in this field.