What is the overall significance of the AbbVie controversies?
Humira's strategy is now the template critics cite for patent reform — one proposal would have reduced AbbVie's assertable patents from 105 to 24 — and the case for limiting how many patents can block biosimilars has found bipartisan support in Congress.
AbbVie's Humira strategy is now the template critics cite when calling for patent reform, and its effects on the biosimilar market are still playing out. Proposals in Congress would limit how many patents can be asserted against biosimilars: one would have reduced AbbVie's assertable Humira patents from 105 to 24.
The House committee's report also noted that AbbVie obstructed the investigation for more than two years until threatened with a subpoena. AbbVie's defenders argue it followed the law, won its patents legitimately, and settled disputes as any company would. Whether such conduct should remain legal is now a live question for Congress.