The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act is a complicated law. Federal Circuit Judge Alan Lourie once said it deserves “a Pulitzer Prize for complexity or unclarity.”

Reviewing the 2010 law for the first time Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court seemed to be toying with the idea of making it even more complicated. Several justices suggested that if biosimilar drug applicants won't comply with the so-called patent dance prescribed by the law, perhaps branded drugmakers can pursue remedies under state unfair competition laws.

“What happens when we have a claim under state law that no one's argued is pre-empted?” Justice Neil Gorsuch asked Anthony Yang, assistant to the solicitor general.

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