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The $5 Billion Hop: Glatiramer Acetate and the US Patent System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2023

Neeraj G. Patel  and
Aaron S. Kesselheim
Neeraj G. Patel
Affiliation:
YALE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, NEW HAVEN, CT, USA
Aaron S. Kesselheim
Affiliation:
PROGRAM ON REGULATION, THERAPEUTICS, AND LAW (PORTAL), DIVISION OF PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND PHARMACOECONOMICS, DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE, BRIGHAM AND WOMEN’S HOSPITAL AND HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, BOSTON, MA, USA HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL CENTER FOR BIOETHICS, BOSTON, MA, USA
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Abstract

New research and a government investigation have shed light on an anticompetitive practice called “Product Hopping” and specifically how it was employed in the case of the multiple sclerosis treatment glatiramer acetate beginning in 2014, which cost payers billions of dollars. We examine this case as well as a separate, impending instance of product hopping.

Keywords

Product HoppingPatent ThicketsCopaxonePatent ReformDrug Pricing Reform
Type
Columns: Health Policy Portal
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 50 , Issue 4: Health Justice: Engaging Critical Perspectives in Health Law and Policy , Winter 2022 , pp. 852 - 856
Copyright
© 2023 The Author(s)

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Footnotes

About This Column

Aaron Kesselheim serves as the editor for Health Policy Portal. Dr. Kesselheim is the JLME editor-in-chief and director of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. This column features timely analyses and perspectives on issues at the intersection of medicine, law, and health policy that are directly relevant to patient care. If you would like to submit to this section of JLME, please contact Dr. Kesselheim at akesselheim@bwh.harvard.edu.

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