Bill Text: NY S04370 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Relates to preserving access to affordable drugs; provides that an agreement resolving or settling, on a final or interim basis, a patent infringement claim, in connection with the sale of a pharmaceutical product, shall be presumed to have anticompetitive effects if a nonreference drug filer receives anything of value from another company asserting patent infringement and if the nonreference drug filer agrees to limit or forego research, development, manufacturing, marketing, or sales of the nonreference drug filer's product for any period of time.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-06-03 - COMMITTED TO RULES [S04370 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S04370-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         4370--B

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    February 3, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens.  BIAGGI, BROOKS, BROUK, COMRIE, GAUGHRAN, HOYLMAN,
          LIU, MANNION, MAY, MYRIE, RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and
          when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health -- recommitted
          to the Committee on Health in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 --
          committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
          recommitted  to  said committee -- committee discharged, bill amended,
          ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to preserving  access
          to affordable drugs

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Article 2-A of the public health law is amended by adding a
     2  new title IV to read as follows:
     3                                  TITLE IV
     4                    PRESERVING ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE DRUGS
     5  Section 282. Definitions.
     6          283. Preserving access to affordable drugs.
     7    § 282. Definitions. For the purposes  of  this  title,  the  following
     8  terms shall have the following meanings:
     9    1.  "ANDA" shall mean abbreviated new drug application as described by
    10  505(j) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 335(j).
    11    2. "ANDA filer" shall mean a party that owns or controls an ANDA filed
    12  with the federal food and  drug  administration  or  has  the  exclusive
    13  rights under that ANDA to distribute the ANDA product.
    14    3.  "Agreement" shall mean anything that would constitute an agreement
    15  under state law.
    16    4. "Agreement resolving  or  settling  a  patent  infringement  claim"
    17  includes  any  agreement  that is entered into within thirty days of the
    18  resolution or the settlement of the claim, or any other  agreement  that
    19  is contingent upon, provides a contingent condition for, or is otherwise

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04644-04-2

        S. 4370--B                          2

     1  related  to  the  resolution  or  settlement  of  the  claim. This shall
     2  include, but is not limited to, the following:
     3    (a) Any agreement required to be provided to the federal trade commis-
     4  sion  or  the  antitrust  division  of  the  United States Department of
     5  Justice under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement,  and  Modern-
     6  ization Act of 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-173;
     7    (b)  Any  agreement  between  a  biosimilar or interchangeable product
     8  applicant and a reference product  sponsor  under  the  Biologics  Price
     9  Competition  and  Innovation  Act  of  2009,  Pub.  L. No. 111-148, that
    10  resolves patent claims between the applicant and sponsor.
    11    5. "Biosimilar biological product  application  filer"  shall  mean  a
    12  party  that owns or controls a biosimilar biological product application
    13  filed with the federal food and drug administration pursuant to  section
    14  351(k) of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 262(k), for licensure
    15  of  a  biological  product  as biosimilar to, or interchangeable with, a
    16  reference product, or that has the exclusive rights under  the  applica-
    17  tion to distribute the biosimilar biological product.
    18    6. "NDA" shall mean a new drug application.
    19    7. "Nonreference drug filer" shall mean either:
    20    (a) An ANDA filer;
    21    (b)  A company that seeks an abbreviated approval pathway for its drug
    22  product under 505(b)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug, and  Cosmetic Act, 21
    23  U.S.C. 355(b)(2); or
    24    (c) A biosimilar biological  product  application  filer,  or  company
    25  seeking FDA approval for a biosimilar under 42 U.S.C. 262.
    26    8.  "Nonreference  drug product" shall mean the product to be manufac-
    27  tured under an ANDA or an application filed under section  505(b)(2)  of
    28  the  Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 355(b), that is the
    29  subject of the patent infringement claim, a biosimilar biological  prod-
    30  uct  that is the product to be manufactured under the biosimilar biolog-
    31  ical product application that is the subject of the patent  infringement
    32  claim, or both.
    33    9.  "Patent  infringement" shall mean infringement of any patent or of
    34  any filed patent application,  extension,  reissue,  renewal,  division,
    35  continuation,  continuation in part, reexamination, patent term restora-
    36  tion, patents of addition, and extensions thereof.
    37    10. "Patent infringement claim" shall mean any allegation  made  to  a
    38  nonreference  drug  filer,  whether or not included in a complaint filed
    39  with a court of law, that its nonreference drug product  or  application
    40  infringes  any patent held by, or exclusively licensed to, the reference
    41  drug holder.
    42    11. "Reference drug holder" shall mean either:
    43    (a) A brand holder that is any of the following:
    44    (i) The holder of an approved NDA for a drug product application filed
    45  under section 505(b) of the Federal Food, Drug,  and  Cosmetic  Act,  21
    46  U.S.C. 355(b);
    47    (ii)  A  person owning or controlling enforcement of the patent listed
    48  in the approved drug products with therapeutic  equivalence  evaluations
    49  in connection with the NDA; or
    50    (iii)  The  predecessors,  subsidiaries, divisions, groups, and affil-
    51  iates controlled by, controlling, or under common control with,  any  of
    52  the  entities  described  in subparagraph (i) or (ii) of this paragraph,
    53  with control to be presumed by direct or  indirect  share  ownership  of
    54  fifty  percent  or greater, as well as the licensees, licensors, succes-
    55  sors, and assigns of each of those entities; or

        S. 4370--B                          3

     1    (b) A biological product license holder, which shall mean any  of  the
     2  following:
     3    (i)  The  holder of an approved biological product license application
     4  for a biological drug product under section 351(a) of the Public  Health
     5  Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 262(a);
     6    (ii)  A  person  owning or controlling enforcement of any patents that
     7  claim the biological product that is the subject of the approved biolog-
     8  ical patent license application; or
     9    (iii) The predecessors, subsidiaries, divisions,  groups,  and  affil-
    10  iates  controlled  by, controlling, or under common control with, any of
    11  the entities described in subparagraph (i) or (ii)  of  this  paragraph,
    12  with  control  to  be  presumed by direct or indirect share ownership of
    13  fifty percent or greater, as well as the licensees,  licensors,  succes-
    14  sors, and assigns of each of those entities.
    15    12. "Reference drug product" shall mean the product to be manufactured
    16  by  the reference drug holder and includes both branded drugs of the NDA
    17  holder and the biologic drug product of  the  biologic  product  license
    18  applicant.
    19    13.  "Statutory  exclusivity"  shall  mean  those  prohibitions on the
    20  approval of drug applications under clauses (ii) through (iv) of section
    21  505(c)(3)(E), section 527 or section 505A of the Federal Food, Drug, and
    22  Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 355(c)(3)(E), on  the  licensing  of  biological
    23  product  applications  under section 262(k)(7) of Title 42 of the United
    24  States Code or section 262(m)(2) or (3) of Title 42 of the United States
    25  Code.
    26    § 283. Preserving  access  to  affordable  drugs.  1.  (a)  Except  as
    27  provided in paragraph (c) of this subdivision, an agreement resolving or
    28  settling,  on  a final or interim basis, a patent infringement claim, in
    29  connection with the sale of a pharmaceutical product, shall be  presumed
    30  to have anticompetitive effects and shall be a violation of this section
    31  if both of the following apply:
    32    (i)  A nonreference drug filer receives anything of value from another
    33  company asserting patent infringement, including, but not limited to, an
    34  exclusive license or a promise that the brand company will not launch an
    35  authorized generic version of its brand drug; and
    36    (ii) The nonreference drug filer agrees to limit or  forego  research,
    37  development, manufacturing, marketing, or sales of the nonreference drug
    38  filer's product for any period of time.
    39    (b)  As used in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of this subdivision,
    40  "anything of value" shall be interpreted broadly to include any type  of
    41  consideration,  value or benefit a reference drug holder or nonreference
    42  drug filer could possibly obtain from the agreement. "Anything of value"
    43  shall not include a settlement of patent infringement  claims  in  which
    44  the  consideration granted by the reference drug holder to the nonrefer-
    45  ence drug filer as part of the resolution or settlement consists of only
    46  one or more of the following:
    47    (i) The right to market the competing product  in  the  United  States
    48  before the expiration of either:
    49    (A) A patent that is the basis for the patent infringement claim; or
    50    (B)  A  patent right or other statutory exclusivity that would prevent
    51  the marketing of the drug;
    52    (ii) A covenant not to sue on a claim that the nonreference drug prod-
    53  uct infringes a United States patent;
    54    (iii) Compensation for saved reasonable future litigation expenses  of
    55  the reference drug holder but only if both of the following are true:

        S. 4370--B                          4

     1    (A)  The total compensation for saved litigation expenses is reflected
     2  in budgets that the reference drug  holder  documented  and  adopted  at
     3  least six months before the settlement; and
     4    (B) The compensation shall not exceed the lower of the following:
     5    (1) Seven million five hundred thousand dollars; or
     6    (2)  Five  percent  of  the  revenue  that the nonreference drug filer
     7  projected or forecasted it would receive in the  first  three  years  of
     8  sales  of  its  version of the reference drug documented at least twelve
     9  months before the settlement. If no projections or forecasts are  avail-
    10  able,  the  compensation  shall  not  exceed  two hundred fifty thousand
    11  dollars;
    12    (iv) An agreement by the reference drug holder not to  interfere  with
    13  the  nonreference drug filer's ability to secure and maintain regulatory
    14  approval to market the nonreference drug  product  or  an  agreement  to
    15  facilitate  the nonreference drug filer's ability to secure and maintain
    16  regulatory approval to market the nonreference drug product; or
    17    (v) An agreement resolving a patent infringement claim  in  which  the
    18  reference  drug  holder  forgives  the  potential  damages  accrued by a
    19  nonreference drug filer for an at-risk launch of the  nonreference  drug
    20  product that is the subject of that claim.
    21    (c)  Parties  to an agreement are not in violation of paragraph (a) of
    22  this subdivision  if  they  can  demonstrate  by  clear  and  convincing
    23  evidence that either of the following are met:
    24    (i)  The  value  received  by the nonreference drug filer described in
    25  subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of this  subdivision  is  a  fair  and
    26  reasonable  compensation  solely  for  other  goods or services that the
    27  nonreference drug filer has promised to provide; or
    28    (ii) The agreement has directly generated procompetitive benefits  and
    29  the  procompetitive  benefits  of the agreement outweigh the anticompet-
    30  itive effects of the agreement.
    31    2. In determining whether the parties to the agreement have met  their
    32  burden  under  paragraph (c) of subdivision one of this section, a court
    33  of competent jurisdiction shall not consider any of the following:
    34    (a) That entry into the marketplace could not have occurred until  the
    35  expiration  of  the  relevant patent exclusivity or that the agreement's
    36  provision for entry of the nonreference drug product before the  expira-
    37  tion  of  any  patent exclusivity means that the agreement is procompet-
    38  itive within the meaning of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of subdi-
    39  vision one of this section;
    40    (b) That any patent is enforceable and infringed by  the  nonreference
    41  drug  filer  in the absence of a final adjudication binding on the filer
    42  of those issues;
    43    (c) That the agreement caused no delay in entry  of  the  nonreference
    44  drug  filer's  drug product because of the lack of Federal Food and Drug
    45  Administration (FDA) approval of that or of  another  nonreference  drug
    46  product; or
    47    (d)  That the agreement caused no harm or delay due to the possibility
    48  that the nonreference drug filer's  drug  product  might  infringe  some
    49  patent that has not been asserted against the nonreference drug filer or
    50  that is not subject to a final and binding adjudication on that filer as
    51  to the patent's scope, enforceability, and infringement.
    52    3.  In determining whether the parties to the agreement have met their
    53  burden under paragraph (c) of subdivision one of this section,  a  court
    54  of competent jurisdiction shall presume that the relevant product market
    55  is  that market consisting of the reference drug of the company alleging
    56  patent infringement and the drug product of the nonreference drug  filer

        S. 4370--B                          5

     1  accused  of  infringement  and  any  other  biological  product  that is
     2  licensed as biosimilar or is an AB-rated generic to the reference  prod-
     3  uct.
     4    4.  (a) This section shall not modify, impair, limit, or supersede the
     5  applicability of the antitrust laws of the  state  pursuant  to  article
     6  twenty-two  of  the general business law, unfair competition laws of the
     7  state pursuant to article twenty-two-A of the general  business  law  or
     8  the  availability  of damages or remedies provided therein. This section
     9  shall not modify, impair, limit, or supersede  the  right  of  any  drug
    10  company  applicant to assert claims or counterclaims against any person,
    11  under the antitrust laws or other laws relating to unfair competition of
    12  the federal antitrust law or state law.
    13    (b) If any provision of this subdivision, an amendment  made  to  this
    14  subdivision,  or  the  application  of any provision or amendment to any
    15  person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder  of
    16  this  subdivision,  the  amendments  made  to  this subdivision, and the
    17  application of the provisions of this subdivision or amendments  to  any
    18  person or circumstance shall not be affected.
    19    5.  (a)(i)  Each  person  that violates or assists in the violation of
    20  this section shall forfeit and pay to the state a civil  penalty  suffi-
    21  cient to deter violations of this section, as follows:
    22    (A)  If the person who violated this section received any value due to
    23  that violation, an amount up to three times the value  received  by  the
    24  party  that is reasonably attributable to the violation of this section,
    25  or twenty million dollars, whichever is greater; or
    26    (B) If the violator has not received anything of value as described in
    27  this subparagraph, an amount up to three times the value given to  other
    28  parties  to  the  agreement  reasonably attributable to the violation of
    29  this section, or twenty million dollars.
    30    (C) For purposes of this subdivision, "reasonably attributable to  the
    31  violation"  shall  be  determined by the state's share of the market for
    32  the brand drug at issue in the agreement.
    33    (ii) Any penalty described in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall
    34  accrue only to the state and  shall  be  recovered  in  a  civil  action
    35  brought by the attorney general in its own name, or by any of its attor-
    36  neys  designated  by it for that purpose, against any party to an agree-
    37  ment that violates this section.
    38    (b) Each party that violates or  assists  in  the  violation  of  this
    39  section shall be liable for any damages, penalties, costs, fees, injunc-
    40  tions,  or other equitable or legal remedies, including, but not limited
    41  to, restitution and disgorgement, that may be just and reasonable.  Such
    42  remedies shall include, but not be  limited  to,  any  remedy  available
    43  under  articles  twenty-two  or twenty-two-A of the general business law
    44  and section sixty-three of the executive law.
    45    (c) If the state is awarded penalties under subparagraph (i) of  para-
    46  graph  (a)  of this subdivision, it shall not recover penalties pursuant
    47  to another law identified in paragraph (b)  of  this  subdivision.  This
    48  section shall not be construed to foreclose the state's ability to claim
    49  any  equitable or legal remedy available in paragraph (b) of this subdi-
    50  vision.
    51    (d) An action to enforce a cause of action for  a  violation  of  this
    52  section  shall  be  commenced within six years after the cause of action
    53  accrued.
    54    § 2. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
    55  sion, section or part of this act shall be  adjudged  by  any  court  of
    56  competent  jurisdiction  to  be  invalid or unenforceable, such judgment

        S. 4370--B                          6

     1  shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall
     2  be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,  subdi-
     3  vision,  section or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in
     4  which  such  judgment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to
     5  be the intent of the legislature that this act would have  been  enacted
     6  even if such invalid provisions had not been included herein.
     7    §  3.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
     8  have become a law.
feedback