Bass Battled U.S. Drug Patents and Prices But Lost to ‘Cabal’
- Hedge fund manager says he raised awareness of high drug costs
- Outside factors had bigger impact on stock than his petitions
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More than two years after hedge fund manager Kyle Bass started his quixotic crusade to challenge pharmaceutical patents he said lead to inflated drug prices, he doesn’t have much to show for it.
Patents on only three of the 14 medicines Bass’s Coalition for Affordable Drugs targeted at the U.S. patent office were invalidated. None led to lower drug prices. Short-term share drops in companies he petitioned didn’t endure. And late last month a generic-drug company achieved what Bass could not: Patents he unsuccessfully challenged on Acorda Therapeutics Inc.’s multiple sclerosis drug Ampyra were thrown out in a court case, opening the door to cheaper versions as soon as next year.