With AbbVie-Allergan Union, Two Price Gouging Patent Manipulators Unite
Statement of Peter Maybarduk, Director, Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines Program
Note: Pharmaceutical manufacturer AbbVie is buying manufacturer Allergan for $63 billion.
Two price gouging patent manipulators unite.
AbbVie is notorious for manipulating patents for the blockbuster medication Humira and AIDS drugs like ritonavir, keeping affordable generics off the market and even slowing innovation.
Allergan is notorious for trying to use the sovereign immunity of a Mohawk tribe to extend its patents.
We can look forward to new efforts to destroy competitive markets by the pharma giant that emerges from this deal, in an industry increasingly focused on monopolizing yesterday’s inventions instead of creating new ones.