A box of Ozempic and contents sit on a table in Dudley, North Tyneside, Britain, October 31, 2023.
Lee Smith | Reuters
The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday said it is challenging hundreds of alleged “junk” patents held by pharmaceutical companies for 20 brand-name drugs, including Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster diabetes drugs Ozempic, Saxenda and Victoza.
The announcement expands the Biden administration’s effort to crack down on alleged patent abuses by the pharmaceutical industry. The FTC has argued that drugmakers are needlessly listing dozens of extra patents for branded medications to keep their drug prices high and stall generic competitors from entering the U.S. market.
The patent disputes add to a broader effort by the Biden administration to make health care more affordable for Americans – a key pillar of President Joe Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign.
On Tuesday, the…
