Why is the price of the cancer drug Revlimid increasing even though lower-cost generics are on the market? Because Celgene/BMS used a new kind of “pay-for-delay” deal that is harder for regulators to catch: a “limited-volume settlement.”

A new report by @sanders.senate.gov found that drug companies that signed drug pricing deals with President Trump have raised the cost of hundreds of medications and launched new ones at an average price of $353,000 a year. ✍️ Berkeley Lovelace Jr., @nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

In 2024, Medicare spent $2.1b on Pomalyst, a cancer drug marketed by Bristol Myers Squibb, to treat just 14,324 beneficiaries. Due to this high spend, Medicare added Pomalyst to its 2nd round of drug price negotiations & successfully lowered the price of a 30-day supply from $21,744 to $8,650.🧵

The #CancerCalculus explores how Merck, known as MSD outside the U.S. and Canada, employed aggressive but legal tactics to increase its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda revenues and make it one of the bestselling ever — at the expense of some patients. bit.ly/4coEq2m

A team of journalists at the @icij.org and 47 media partners in 37 countries just published a yearlong investigation into how Merck built its global Keytruda monopoly.

Public Citizen’s Peter Maybarduk told ICIJ that pharma created a system of rules to protect drugmakers and ensure wealthy governments protect them “There is a whole architecture underpinning Keytruda and every patented drug where the US government and Europe go to bat for the industry and its rules”

💊 En Suisse, le médicament anticancéreux #Keytruda a permis au géant pharmaceutique MSD de réaliser un chiffre d'affaires de 31,7 milliards de dollars en 2025. Notre enquête conjointe avec @icij.org montre comment MSD fait du « patent evergreening »➡️ www.publiceye.ch/fr/keytruda

Thank you @tahiramin.bsky.social @imakglobal.bsky.social for supporting @fr.publiceye.ch in our patent analysis of cancer drug #Keytruda, in conjunction with @icij.org, unveiling MSD's gaming of the patent systems to maintain overinflated prices & delay competition www.publiceye.ch/en/topics/ph...

NEW: My news organization @icij.org has released results our latest investigation, revealing how pharmaceutical giant Merck keeps the price of its lifesaving cancer drug Keytruda sky-high, locking out patients & squeezing health care systems worldwide. #CancerCalculus www.icij.org/investigatio...

An excellent thread about Merck’s Keytruda cancer drug —and the @icij.org-led #CancerCalculus investigation:

This is a comprehensive investigation of patent abuse of a Keytruda & the best I've ever seen patent data visualisation of evergreening practices and the resulting thicket until 2046 - another extra twenty years of patent monopoly right h/t @clancyny.bsky.social

#CancerCalculus: An ICIJ-led collaboration with 47 media partners in 37 countries reveals how Merck & Co. keeps the price of its lifesaving cancer drug Keytruda sky-high, locking out patients and squeezing health care systems worldwide. www.icij.org/investigatio...

How Merck keeps prices for its blockbuster cancer drug sky high Keytruda ✍️ @usatoday.com www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

Our team at @imakglobal.bsky.social released a new brief, The Monopoly Extension Menu.🧵 reports.i-mak.org/monopoly-ext...

NEW: Our new brief, The Monopoly Extension Menu, examines three of the most expensive drugs in the Medicare program to show how pharmaceutical companies extend monopolies using a menu of schemes to block competition. 📑 reports.i-mak.org/monopoly-ext...

According to a new poll by KFF, Americans are more worried about being able to afford health care than they are about utilities, food and groceries, housing, or gas. Health care costs will affect how they vote in the midterms. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

Medicare's Drug Price Negotiation Program recently announced the 15 drugs selected for its third round of negotiations. As the program expands, its success is in danger of being undercut by legislators giving drug companies new ways to extend their monopolies. 🧵 www.statnews.com/2026/01/27/m...

NEWS: @tahiramin.bsky.social and Rohit Malpani are releasing a new book! 📚 In it, they examine the origins of a global public health system that protects pharmaceutical monopolies instead of the public interest and people’s lives.

This is called product hopping.

We will be closely watching how Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk adapt their patenting schemes to maintain monopoly control and delay affordable options for the GLP-1 market. www.law360.com/classaction/...

We mourn the loss of David Mitchell, founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs (@p4ad.bsky.social). David showed the world that even when systems feel too big and entrenched to challenge, they are not beyond our collective power.

In 2025, we won some hard-fought victories in the fight for patent reform. Yet despite this progress, our year-in-review newsletter must focus on something deeply troubling: the hollowing out of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. mailchi.mp/i-mak/how-th...

NEW: Read our account detailing how a small group of policymakers—incl. USPTO Director John Squires, Acting USPTO Director Coke Morgan-Stewart, Senators Tillis and Coons, and former USPTO Director Andrei Iancu—pushed industry-backed efforts to hollow out the USPTO. 🔗 www.i-mak.org/2025/12/16/h...

👏 NEWS: Teva removes over 200 improper Orange Book patent listings under pressure from the FTC. 🔗 www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/ftc-c...

“Patent reform is our best path forward for addressing a root cause of high drug prices in a bipartisan manner.” @tahiramin.bsky.social www.statnews.com/sponsor/2025...

This is true. Look at AbbVie’s CEO. It says a lot about a pharma company's priorities when their CEO's bio focuses entirely on financial achievements.

SENATOR WELCH: Pharmaceutical companies used to be run by scientists. They’re now run by MBAs.

During our recent webinar, @tahiramin.bsky.social, @welch.senate.gov, and @emilypisacreta.bsky.social looked back at a 2019 exchange between Sen. John Cornyn and former AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez, in which Gonzalez openly admitted to stockpiling hundreds of patents on Humira.

NEW: We partnered with @statnews.com to analyze findings from a national @fandmpoll.bsky.social survey we commissioned to understand the public’s top concerns on drug pricing. www.statnews.com/sponsor/2025...

Jon Stewart and Lina Khan discuss how pharma companies build patent thickets.

NEWS: @tahiramin.bsky.social sat down with Nick Robertson of MLex to discuss how we’re helping Congress and the public understand the connection between patent abuse and high drug prices. Read the interview: www.mlex.com/mlex/article...

In our November newsletter, @tahiramin.bsky.social discusses findings from a new nationwide survey we commissioned from the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin and Marshall College. www.i-mak.org/2025/11/10/n...

Sen. @hassan.senate.gov (D-NH): What are the real impacts of these patent games on patients? Dr. @wbfeldman.bsky.social: These patent games can delay generic and biosimilar competition, which keep prices high...patients can’t afford their medications and we see worse clinical outcomes.

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) took time during a recent hearing on 340B reform to highlight the importance of patent reform.

Last week, the Senate HELP Committee held a hearing on 340B reform. During the hearing, Sen. Hawley (R-MO) asked @wbfeldman.bsky.social how we can lower drug prices for Americans. Dr. Feldman outlined several steps we can take while making clear that patent reform is critical.

TrumpRx and a most-favored nation policy won’t lower drug prices for patients. We need a government that is willing to stand up to corporate interests and actually become a most favored nation for patients, not pharmaceutical profits. New op-ed for @statnews.com ↓ www.statnews.com/2025/10/24/t...

Thank to our colleagues of @imakglobal.bsky.social for this strong analyse : www.statnews.com/2025/10/24/t...

🚨NEW: @nytimes.com reports on Colorado’s effort to curb the price of Enbrel. “The fact the government never stepped in to rectify this extended patent monopoly is a case to be studied.” - @tahiramin.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/h...

🗞️ @statnews.com highlights key findings from a new national survey we commissioned to understand Americans’ top concerns on drug pricing. 🔗 www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...

⏰ Our webinar is starting in 1 hour! Tune in to learn about results from a new national survey showing strong bipartisan support for patent reform. Speakers: @tahiramin.bsky.social, @welch.senate.gov, Berwood Yost, @emilypisacreta.bsky.social

In our October newsletter, @tahiramin.bsky.social asks a simple but critical questions about Merck's Keytruda Qlex: does it really count as an invention? www.i-mak.org/2025/10/17/k...

4 in 5 Americans support changes to patent laws to address drug pricing Join us tomorrow at 10AM ET for a webinar unpacking results from a new national survey showing strong bipartisan support for patent reform. RSVP here: www.i-mak.org/survey/

Did you RSVP to our webinar? A new national survey reveals bipartisan support for patent system reforms 🗓️ Wednesday, October 22 🕙 10AM ET 🗣️ @tahiramin.bsky.social, @welch.senate.gov, Berwood Yost, @emilypisacreta.bsky.social 🎟️ www.i-mak.org/survey/

Looking forward to this conversation about drug prices next week!

JOIN US! On Wednesday, October 22 at 10AM ET we will host a webinar to discuss results from a new national survey revealing bipartisan momentum for patent system reform. Speakers: @tahiramin.bsky.social, @welch.senate.gov, Berwood Yost, @emilypisacreta.bsky.social RSVP! www.i-mak.org/survey/

Swipe to see how readers are reacting 👇

🚨 @washingtonpost.com reports on Colorado’s effort to lower the price of Enbrel—the latest state-level move to curb patent abuse in order to make life-saving drugs affordable for the patients that need them. The article features data from our team at I-MAK. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Merck is launching a patent-protected injectable version of Keytruda before biosimilars of the IV version of Keytruda enter the market. Swipe to see reactions to the recent @nytimes.com story on Merck's product hopping scheme.

“Merck is just the latest in a long line of drug companies that have introduced new versions of their medicines that allow them to keep charging high prices [to patients] even as their original patents expire.” www.seattletimes.com/nation-world...

1️⃣ Read The New York Time’s new investigation into Merck’s product hop on Keytruda. 2️⃣ Watch the video be published back in May detailing exactly how Merck is doing it.