Even as pharma companies have yet to feel the full effects of the Inflation Reduction Act, Senate lawmakers have turned their attention to another facet of drug pricing with a bill meant to crack down on the industry’s aggressive patenting practices.

Thursday, the Senate unanimously the bipartisan Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act, which looks to limit the number of patents drugmakers can assert in litigation on individual biological products. The bill aims to fight “patent thicketing,” a tactic the branded drug industry uses to delay or thwart competition.

Senate unanimously endorses legislation targeting pharma ‘patent thickets’ | Fierce Pharma