Patients and patents campaign partners launch website
Prescription drug prices continue to rise around the world, putting essential medications out of reach for too many people living with chronic diseases. Arthritis Consumer Experts today launched the Patients and patents campaign website as part of a new global, patient-led initiative designed to help patients better understand how pharmaceutical patents affect access to affordable medications.
Visit the website at https://patientsandpatents.info/
Why this matters to people living with chronic diseases
Pharmaceutical patents are meant to reward innovation. But when patent strategies delay competition from more affordable options such as generics and biosimilars, patients and healthcare systems feel the impact.
The Patients and patents website provides clear, plain-language information about:
- How pharmaceutical patents work
- Why lower-cost alternatives may be delayed
- What these delays mean for patients and public drug plans
- How patent rules differ across countries
- What patients and organizations can do to raise awareness
You’ll also find a Questions & Answers section, a glossary of key terms, curated news and videos, and an Advocacy Toolkit with practical resources that can be shared within your community.
A global patient-led effort
The campaign is led by patient organizations in Canada, the United States, and Australia, and is expanding to include additional patient groups who share a commitment to improving equitable access to medicines.
Commenting on the launch of the campaign website, Cheryl Koehn, President, Arthritis Consumer Experts, said: “Patients deserve transparency and a stronger voice in conversations about medication affordability and patent policy. Our campaign ais to help ensure that patients understand how patent rules affect access to treatment and work toward solutions that protect both innovation and affordability.”