We analyze the effects on consumers of an extreme policy experiment -- Napsterizing' pharmaceuticals -- whereby all … patent rights on branded prescription drugs are eliminated for both existing and future prescription drugs without … compensation to the patent holders. The question of whether this policy maximizes consumer welfare cannot be resolved on an a …

stage pharmaceutical innovation? We explore this question using novel data sources and an empirical framework that models … implications of our results for long-run welfare, policy, and innovation …

Brand and generic drug manufacturers frequently settle patent litigation on terms that include a payment to the generic … generic, and conduct an event study of the announcement of the patent settlements on the stock price of the brand. For …

We examine the impact of loss of U.S. patent exclusivity (LOE) on the prices and utilization of specialty drugs between …

empirically important phenomenon of diffusion of generic drugs into the market following patent expiration. We find very …

coincides with the market entry and increased utilization of branded reformulations of a drug going off patent. We show case … reformulations---often extended-release versions of the patent-expiring drug---offer potential health benefits, the FDA does not … require evidence that the reformulations are improvements over the previous drug in order to grant a patent. Indeed, in a …

as 95% for about 400 generic and off-patent drug products. We use variation induced by the timing of this policy along …