The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act (S. 1041), a bill intended to reduce patent thickets that can delay biosimilar entry. The measure limits the number of patents a biologics sponsor can assert in the voluntary “patent dance” under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act, capping asserted patents at 20. Backers described the limit as “reasonable,” while the bill now heads to the House. If enacted, the bill could reshape how biosimilar challenges are litigated and negotiated, potentially affecting timelines for market access. For biotech companies pursuing biosimilar development, the bill offers a regulatory-policy lever aimed at curbing repeat or expansive patent assertion strategies during early exchange periods.