Texan hedge fund manager Kyle Bass' war against the US pharmaceutical industry has officially begun.
The founder of Hayman Capital has filed an inter partes review (IPR) petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office challenging Acorda Therapeutics' patent of its flagship drug Ampyra–a treatment that helps improve walking in Multiple Sclerosis patients.
Shares of Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) were last down 8%.
In early January, Bass revealed at a conference that he has a "short activist strategy" against the US pharmaceutical industry and its "BS patents."
"We'll have a separate pharmacy vehicle. We've dedicated half of our resources over the past six months to this," Bass told attendees at the Skagen New Year's Conference in Copenhagen during his presentation titled "The US Has A Drug Problem."
Bass told conference attendees that "pay for delay" is coming to an end for drugmakers. He also said he planned to file IPR petitions to challenge the validity of drugmaker patents.
"This will change the way pharma companies [manage] their BS patents," Bass said.
He continued: "The beautiful thing is this will lower drug prices for everyone."
Bass is scheduled to speak Tuesday at 5 p.m. EST at The Economist's Buttonwood Gathering at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. We'll be covering the event.
Here's a chart:
Here's the IPR petition:
IPR2015-00720 (Petition) by Markman Advisors
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: 11 Mind-Blowing Facts About North Korea