Pharma will push back – expiration strategy proves drug makers will exploit new protections to ensure profits

[Tahir Amin and David Mitchell, 2-24-23, Amin is the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK). Mitchell is a cancer patient and Founder of Patients for Affordable Drugs, TIME, “Big Pharma’s Patent Abuses Are Fueling the Drug Pricing Crisis,” , accessed: 07-08-24, ES]

To fully grasp drugmakers’ vehement pushback on any attempts to reduce drug prices, it’s important to pull back the curtain on the industry’s ongoing anti-competitive practices to see what else is really at stake. Patent monopolies on 7 out of 10 of America’s top selling drugs should expire this decade. This means drugmakers stand to lose billions if—and when—lower-priced generic alternatives are allowed on the market. But unless America wises up to the industry’s under-the-table patent games, drugmakers will continue to have free rein to extend their patent protection, delay competition, and keep the cost of life-saving medicines sky high.