A survey released Monday by the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK) and Franklin & Marshall College's Center for Opinion Research found that about four in five American adults support reforms to the patent system to reduce prescription drug prices. Conducted in June 2025 among 726 adults, the poll signals unusually wide agreement across party lines on the need to address the legal and regulatory structures that govern drug monopolies.

The results add momentum to a growing policy conversation about how patents, exclusivity periods and related legal strategies contribute to high medicine costs in the United States. Advocates say patent reforms could help prevent "evergreening" tactics that extend market exclusivity and slow the entry of lower-cost generics and biosimilars. Public-health experts argue that lowering prices through such reforms would have immediate benefits for patients who skip doses or forgo treatments because of cost, deepening health inequities among low-income, chronically ill and uninsured populations.

With prescription drug spending a persistent political concern, the survey's bipartisan message could be consequential for policymakers weighing legislative or administrative options. Patent reform proposals under discussion in recent years have ranged from tightening standards for what can be patented, to strengthening pathways for challenging weak or strategic patents, to limiting secondary patents that extend monopolies without significant therapeutic innovation. Regulators and congressional committees have the discretion to adjust rules at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and to fortify review mechanisms at agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration.

The new polling comes as consumer advocates push for comprehensive approaches that marry patent reform with measures addressing list prices, rebates and pharmacy benefit manager practices. I-MAK, an organization that focuses on access to medicines and intellectual property policy, released the findings on October 20, 2025, after the poll was fielded in June. The organization framed the data as evidence that Americans want structural change in the pharmaceutical marketplace rather than narrow fixes.

Public-health specialists caution that patent reform alone will not solve all affordability problems, but say it can be a foundational step. High out-of-pocket costs contribute to medication nonadherence, preventable hospitalizations and long-term complications for conditions such as diabetes, HIV, and cardiovascular disease. Communities already marginalized by systemic inequities—people of color, low-income households and those in rural areas—are disproportionately affected by unaffordable medications, deepening inequities in health outcomes.

For lawmakers facing re-election pressures and a public fatigued by high medical costs, the survey offers political cover to pursue tougher patent policies. The challenge for policymakers will be balancing incentives for pharmaceutical innovation with mechanisms that prevent misuse of patent protections to keep prices elevated. As debate continues on Capitol Hill and in state capitols, the survey underscores a key point: a substantial portion of the electorate views patent-system reforms as a legitimate and urgent tool for restoring affordability and fairness in access to essential medicines.