Lawmakers Face Push to Limit Drugmaker Deals as Prices Skyrocket

Lawmakers will have a hard time objecting to legislation aimed at lowering prescription drug prices by limiting deals between name brand and generic manufacturers, Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Tuesday.

“The stakes could not be higher,” Klobuchar (D-Minn.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, said at a hearing.

Klobuchar is sponsor of a bill (S. 1428) that would limit arrangements in which brand drugmakers compensate generics for waiting before they enter the market. These types of settlements are called pay-for-delay deals.

“We would get that done,” she said, referring to the legislation.

The panel’s hearing comes amid ...