Generic Drugs The Pay-for-delay Problem

Brand-name pharmaceutical companies can delay generic competition that lowers prices by agreeing to pay a generic competitor to hold its competing product off the market for a certain period of time. These so-called "pay-for-delay" agreements have arisen as part of patent litigation settlement agreements between brand-name and generic pharmaceutical companies. "Pay-for-delay" agreements are "win-win" for the companies: brand name pharmaceutical prices stay high, and the brand and generic share the benefits of the brand's monopoly profits. Consumers lose, however: they miss out on generic prices that can be as much as 90 percent less than brand prices. For example, brand-name medication that costs $300 per month, might be sold as a generic for as little as $30 per month. This book examines the "pay-for-delay' program and how drug company pay-offs cost consumers billions.