Generic drug trade group loses bid to block California pay-to-delay law

In a July 24 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for 9th Circuit ruled that the Association for Accessible Medicines had failed to show a “substantial risk” in a California law that would ban pay-to-delay deals between drugmakers. Pay-to-delay deals happen when a brand-name drugmaker pays a generic drugmaker to delay launching a generic version of a drug so the brand-name manufacturer can continue selling it without competition for a longer period of time. The Federal Trade Commission has said such deals cost U.S. consumers about $3.5 billion a year. Shortly after California became the first state to outlaw such deals in October 2019, the Association for Accessible Medicines filed a lawsuit against Xavier Becerra, California’s attorney general, arguing that pay-to-delay rules are legal and allow generics to reach consumers faster. Becerra has released a statement saying the ruling is “a win for every family who has unfairly shouldered higher prices for lifesaving medicine simply because pharmaceutical companies staved off competition to pocket higher profits.”