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3 - Patents and Monopoly Pricing of Pharmaceuticals

from Part I - Monopoly

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2022

Roger D. Blair ,
Christine Piette Durrance  and
Tirza J. Angerhofer
Roger D. Blair
Affiliation:
University of Florida
Christine Piette Durrance
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin
Tirza J. Angerhofer
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
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Summary

In recent years, there have been many accounts of extreme prescription drug prices that have raised issues of equity, price gouging, social conscience, and demands for relief. In part, these prices arise due to the inelastic demand for lifesaving drugs and the patents that create short-term legal monopolies. The economic rationale for patent protection flows from the fact that the investment made by inventors necessarily precedes any financial benefits received from the discovery of new products or more efficient production processes. Patent law prevents copiers from free riding so that innovators can reap the reward of monopoly profits for their innovation. Thus, there is a trade-off between innovation and affordability. Antitrust law cannot be used to disrupt legal monopolies, so the US government has turned to congressional proposals that would mitigate extreme drug pricing. We also review the policies of other countries that are aimed at reducing pharmaceutical drug prices and consider whether such policies would work in the US market.

Keywords

prescription drug pricingR&D investmentpatent lawlicensingcompulsory licensingprice regulationarbitrageorphan drugs
Type
Chapter
Information
Antitrust Policy in Health Care Markets , pp. 37 - 73
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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