{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://welch.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/market-watch-rep-peter-welch-allergans-bold-brazen-bizarre-patent-deal", "Market Watch: Rep. Peter Welch on Allergan's 'Bold, Brazen, Bizarre' Patent Deal with an American Indian Tribe", "2017-10-10", "2017", "2017-10", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Peter Welch", "W000800", "welch.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) is not mincing words when it comes to Allergan Inc.\u2019s deal with an American Indian tribe geared toward protecting one of the company\u2019s top products.\n\u201cI was astonished at the creativity in craft manipulation to extend the patent,\u201d Welch told MarketWatch on Thursday, adding, \u201cthey would only do that if they felt a kind of arrogant confidence that they can continue to get away with murder.\u201d\nAllergan\u2019s AGN, +1.09%\u00a0 agreement with the New York state-based St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, under which Allergan sold the patents on dry eye medication Restasis to the tribe in order to dismiss challenges made through the U.S. Patent and Trade Office\u2019s inter partes review process, was announced in September.\nSince then, the deal has been widely criticized and invited lawmaker scrutiny. A bipartisan House Oversight committee letter was sent this week\u2014Welch was one of the four signatories\u2014requesting more information about the deal. And Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who has said the move \u201cshould be illegal,\u201d said on Thursday that she has drafted a bill in response.\nDrug prices are a key issue for Welch, who met with President Donald Trump and colleague Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in March to discuss drug prices and, again with Cummings, sent a letter about prices to manufacturers of multiple sclerosis drugs this summer.\nEven before Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history in Las Vegas on Sunday, drug prices seemed to have fallen off the White House\u2019s agenda.\nBut Welch is still hopeful, he said on Thursday, describing prescription drug costs as one of the larger problems facing the U.S., given the spiraling cost of health care.\nWelch described Allergan\u2019s patent deal as alternately \u201cbold,\u201d \u201cbrazen\u201d and \u201cbizarre.\u201d\n\u201cCongress has a policy by law that extends market protection for a period of time for a new drug, and I\u2019m supportive of that. It allows drug company to recoup their investment costs and make a profit,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when companies that have been given this legal protection try to extend it for pretty flimsy reasons, it really comes at the expense of consumers and taxpayers.\u201d\n\u201cIf legislation is necessary to stop this, I would support legislation,\u201d Welch said. Welch is looking at McCaskill\u2019s legislation closely and his office expects he will introduce it in the House next week, according to a spokeswoman.\nAllergan said in a Friday statement that the company disagrees with Welch, adding that the deal does not fully shield Restasis from patent litigation.\nLawmakers should instead focus on the inter partes review (IPR) process, the company said, referring to another channel by which patents can be challenged and one that many drugmakers have criticized.\nAllergan has \u201crepeatedly\u201d said it is concerned about the IPR process, the company said, since the process undermines the \u201cdelicate balance\u201d of the Hatch-Waxman generic law, is implemented through the \u201cnot-impartial\u201d Patent and Trademark Office and \u201ccreates an unnecessary and unfair burden on innovators of branded medicines by opening up patents to parallel and often inconsistently adjudicated challenges before both federal courts and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.\u201d\nBut Welch said the request was \u201cjust changing the topic,\u201d adding, \u201cthat has nothing to do with scheming to extend the life of the patent.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://welch.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/market-watch-rep-peter-welch-allergans-bold-brazen-bizarre-patent-deal"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2648659758269787, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}