How Brand Name Drug Companies Delay Generic Competition

Brand name drug companies benefit from temporary protections for new drugs that prevent direct competition and allow them to continue charging high prices. However, some drug companies have found ways to extend their monopoly periods and maximize revenue. These often-comprehensive strategies often slow the availability of less expensive generic competitors, keeping prices high and driving up costs for consumers and taxpayer-funded programs such as Medicare.

Using the popular respiratory inhaler Symbicort as an illustration, this report examines a range of tactics that drug companies can use to retain revenue and market share. Read the full report.

Key takeaways:

• Brand name drug companies commonly use comprehensive and multipronged strategies to retain revenue and market share.
• Common tactics include launching modified versions of existing drugs, creating “patent thickets” by obtaining often-overlapping patents for a single drug, increasing their prices, and others.
• With the pharmaceutical industry now facing an unusually high number of upcoming patent expirations, policymakers should consider legislation that would reduce health care costs by addressing drug manufacturers’ ability to delay generic competition.