By now, the story of last year’s dismal U.S. capital markets is hardly news. But when combined with increasing regulatory stresses, especially for biopharma and med-tech startups, there are elements of that story giving some Street-watchers pause, even as the market begins to show a few signs of recovery.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized its overhaul of the health breach notification rule (HBNR), significantly expanding the types of software products subject to the agency’s oversight. However, the final rule was approved by the commission by a narrow 3-2 vote and was the subject of a scathing critique by the two dissenting commissioners, who argued that the FTC has once again exceeded its statutory authority in rewriting the HBNR.
Just a few days after the U.S. Congressional Research Service issued a report suggesting ways Congress could resolve the unanswered questions about patent listings in the FDA’s Orange Book, the FTC sent a second round of warning letters to eight biopharma companies and their subsidiaries, citing the listing of device patents for combination products.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s final rule for noncompete clauses in employment contracts would seem to endanger life science patents and trade secrets, but there is a question of whether the agency stepped outside its statutory bounds in forming the rule. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has already filed suit on the rule, but Joshua Rich of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP told BioWorld, that the Chamber is unlikely to be the last entity to file suit over the rule.
The new merger guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have proven controversial on several fronts, but now the House of Representatives is weighing in.
The new merger guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have proven controversial on several fronts, but now the House of Representatives is weighing in. Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) said the guidelines fail to account for the importance of these transactions for small businesses seeking to grow and requested that the two agencies provide data that would demonstrate whether such concerns were considered in drafting those rules.
Three U.S. federal government agencies announced that their focus on consolidation in health care markets may soon ramp up, given concerns that consolidation may be affecting the cost and quality of patient care.
More than a year and a half after the U.S. FTC launched its investigation into how pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) practices and consolidation impact patients’ ability to access and afford their prescription drugs, the six biggest PBMs in the country have yet to fully comply with the agency’s June 2022 order to provide data and documents pertaining to certain business practices.
After more than a decade of industry pleading for guidance on Orange Book patent listings, the U.S. FDA is finally planning on answering that request this year. If the guidance that’s produced reflects the FTC’s position that device patents can’t be listed for combination products, it could overturn years of accepted practice and possibly hinder the development of new, more advanced drug administration technologies.
Seeking the root causes and possible solutions to the chronic drug shortages plaguing the U.S. health care system, the FTC and Health and Human Services jointly issued a request for information regarding how group purchasing organizations and drug wholesalers may be contributing to the shortages of generic drugs.
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