Bill Sponsor
Senate Bill 1818
119th Congress(2025-2026)
Prescription Drug Price Relief Act of 2025
Introduced
Introduced
Introduced in Senate on May 20, 2025
Overview
Text
Introduced
May 20, 2025
Latest Action
May 20, 2025
Origin Chamber
Senate
Type
Bill
Bill
The primary form of legislative measure used to propose law. Depending on the chamber of origin, bills begin with a designation of either H.R. or S. Joint resolution is another form of legislative measure used to propose law.
Bill Number
1818
Congress
119
Policy Area
Health
Health
Primary focus of measure is science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease; health services administration and funding, including such programs as Medicare and Medicaid; health personnel and medical education; drug use and safety; health care coverage and insurance; health facilities. Measures concerning controlled substances and drug trafficking may fall under Crime and Law Enforcement policy area.
Sponsorship by Party
Independent
Vermont
Democrat
Connecticut
Democrat
Massachusetts
Democrat
New Jersey
Democrat
Rhode Island
Senate Votes (0)
House Votes (0)
No Senate votes have been held for this bill.
Summary

Prescription Drug Price Relief Act of 2025

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review brand-name drugs annually for excessive pricing and, if a drug is found to be priced excessively, to void any exclusivity granted to its sponsor.

Specifically, HHS must review all brand-name drug prices at least annually and upon petition. If any such drugs are found to be excessively priced, HHS must (1) void any government-granted exclusivity; (2) issue open, nonexclusive licenses for the drugs; and (3) expedite the review of corresponding applications for generic drugs and biosimilar biological products. HHS must also create a public database with its determinations for each drug.

An entity accepting an open, nonexclusive license under these provisions must pay a reasonable royalty to the holder of the relevant patent or approved new drug application, and must price the generic drug or biosimilar below the excessive rate.

Under the bill, a price is considered excessive if the domestic average manufacturing price exceeds the median price for the drug in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan. If a price does not meet this criteria, or if pricing information is unavailable in at least three of these countries, the price is still considered excessive if it is higher than reasonable in light of specified factors, including development cost, revenue, and the size of the affected patient population.

The bill also requires drug manufacturers to report specified financial information for brand-name drugs, including research and advertising expenditures.

Text (1)
Actions (2)
05/20/2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
05/20/2025
Introduced in Senate
Graphics
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S.1818 119 A bill to significantly lower prescription drug prices for patients in the United States b
Public Record
Record Updated
Mar 24, 2026 3:56:34 PM