A PYMNTS Company

US: FTC, Senate’s Klobuchar meet to hash-out pay-for-delay

By  |  July 23, 2013

The US Federal Trade Commission and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), head of the Senate’s Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, held a joint hearing to discuss pay-for-delay deals following last month’s Supreme Court decision that ruled officials can sue pharmaceutical companies for the agreements but stopped short of declaring the deals illegal. Klobuchar has introduced a bill to make the agreements illegal; the legislation is co-introduced with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA). The senate’s meeting wit the FTC looked to examine the deals and their effects on the pharmaceutical industry and its consumers. FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez said at the meeting regulators will take a new, firmer stance against the settlements already litigated by the FTC and to investigate new agreements; while not all patent settlements are anticompetitive, said Ramirez, the FTC is looking to stop those that are. The watchdog says $3.5 billion in spent by consumers and the US government each year because of such deals. Ramirez did not declare, however, whether any of the current pay-for-delay cases currently under watch by the FTC will head to court.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    Full Content: Reuters and Hometown Source

    We’d love to be your preferred source for news.

    Please add us to your preferred sources list so our news, data and interviews show up in your feed. Thanks!

    Add as Preferred Source

    Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.