U.S. House Approves Restrictions on Brand-Name Drug Agreements

The U.S. House approved a measure restricting the ability of drugmakers to enter agreements that the Federal Trade Commission has said keep generic medicines off the market.

Companies could be fined under the measure if the FTC and courts find they are involved in settlements that preserve a brand-name pharmaceutical firm’s patent by delaying a generic-drug maker’s introduction of a lower-priced product. The proposal, included in a war-funding bill that passed the House last night, now goes to the Senate.