The US FTC publishes its annual report on pharmaceutical patent settlements

On December 3, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its annual report on pharmaceutical patent settlements filed with the FTC under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA)—its fourth annual review since the Supreme Court’s seminal decision in FTC v. Actavis addressing “reverse payment” settlements. The FTC concludes patent settlements are up while “reverse payments” are down Since 2004, the FTC’s MMA reports have largely focused on the number of pharmaceutical patent settlements executed each year and the provisions that the FTC considers to be part of such settlements, including potentially anticompetitive “reverse payments.” As addressed in the Supreme Court’s decision in FTC v. Actavis, 570 US 136 (2013), reverse payment claims