House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) has led a bipartisan group of lawmakers in sending a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, proposing that the administration work with Congress on reforms aimed at increasing competition and reducing prescription drug costs for American families.
The lawmakers are urging support for the Eliminating Thickets to Increase Competition (ETHIC) Act. The legislation targets so-called “patent thickets,” which are duplicative and overlapping drug patents that can delay the entry of lower-cost generics and biosimilars. These patent practices limit competition and keep drug prices high.
Arrington’s letter states, “As a bipartisan group of members committed to lowering drug prices, we write to urge the U.S. Department of Commerce to prioritize addressing the issue of patent thickets surrounding branded pharmaceutical products, particularly biologics. Duplicative patent thickets create significant barriers to market entry for biosimilars and generics, delaying access to affordable medications and sustaining high drug prices for patients.”
The letter continues, “By addressing this issue in the manner outlined by the ETHIC Act, the Department can advance a pro-competition agenda that lowers drug prices without threatening innovation.”
Senator Welch commented on the initiative: “For decades, Big Pharma has exploited U.S. courts and the patent system through anti-competitive practices that prevent generic and biosimilar competitors from entering the market, forcing Vermonters to pay more out of pocket for life-saving drugs. My bipartisan ETHIC Act would stop pharmaceutical companies from abusing the patent system and lower prescription drug prices for patients. We’re calling on the Trump Administration to support our bill to cut drug costs and streamline access to care for families in Vermont, Texas, and across the country.”
Representative Lloyd Doggett (TX-35) also weighed in: “Too often, Big Pharma’s masterful innovation is in creating new ways to maintain monopoly power and charge monopoly prices. One creative tactic has been to block competition from generics by creating a thicket of patents with multiple patent applications for the same idea. To ensure patients are not priced out of access and to encourage a healthy free market, the Patent Office should ensure that when one patent is deemed meritless, the associated duplicates fall as well. This modest reform would help ensure timely generic entry to drive down prices for patients and achieve huge savings for taxpayers.”
The ETHIC Act seeks to address what its sponsors describe as abuse of intellectual property protections within pharmaceuticals by curbing dense webs or “thickets” of patents around profitable drugs—practices they say block access to lower-cost generics.
Research cited by lawmakers indicates these practices do not make substantial improvements on original drugs but do delay competition and keep prices high.
Arrington has held his seat since 2016, consistently winning general elections against various opponents with wide margins each cycle.
