HHS Chief Calls on Patent Office to Help Curb Rising Drug Prices

The health and human services secretary is calling on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to help rein in skyrocketing drug prices as part of the government’s push to curb practices that allegedly keep lower-cost medicines from hitting the market.

The patent office and the Food and Drug Administration “will work together to develop solutions” to facilitate faster market entry of cheaper, copycat versions of name brand drugs, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a set of proposals released Thursday.

The proposals, part of an HHS report to the White House, come amid an ongoing battle over drug costs that’s ...