Senator questions Merck over patent strategy for blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda

Senator questions Merck over patent strategy for blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda

A U.S. senator is pressing pharmaceutical giant Merck over its patenting and pricing practices for the blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda, escalating congressional scrutiny of industry strategies that can delay lower-cost rivals from reaching the market. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, said that Merck and other drug companies often file excessive patents to extend their monopolies and …