FTC chal­lenges more than 100 drug patents owned by Ab­b­Vie, As­traZeneca, Boehringer and sev­en oth­ers

The Fed­er­al Trade Com­mis­sion on Tues­day chal­lenged more than 100 patents as im­prop­er­ly or in­ac­cu­rate­ly list­ed in the FDA’s Or­ange Book of gener­ic drugs.

The patents, held by Ab­b­Vie, As­traZeneca, Boehringer In­gel­heim, GSK, Te­va and five oth­er man­u­fac­tur­ers, cov­er ex­pen­sive in­halers that have not seen gener­ic com­pe­ti­tion, as well as ep­i­neph­rine au­toin­jec­tors and oth­er drugs.

The FTC push is part of a wider crack­down on the way patent thick­ets can be built up over decades to squelch gener­ic drug com­pe­ti­tion. Cur­rent­ly, patents list­ed in the FDA’s Or­ange Book are not vet­ted by the FDA or any out­side ex­perts to see if they com­ply with ap­plic­a­ble laws or reg­u­la­tions.

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