One of the most heated discussions in economics in recent years has concerned the relationship between market structure and innovation. After a half-century of debate and innumerable studies, the consensus is that there is no clear answer to the question. On a concrete level, the uncertainty...

Whenever Congress considers reasonable legislation to lower drug prices, we hear that this will be the "end of innovation." This short piece compares Big Pharma to the boy who cried wolf, offering numerous examples (going back to 1961!) of the industry claiming that legislation will harm innovation

In FTC v. Actavis, the Supreme Court ruled that settlements by which brand drug companies pay generics to delay entering the market could violate antitrust law. In In the Matter of Impax Laboratories, the FTC offered its first elaboration upon this framework. On behalf of all 5 members,...

When a brand drug firm reformulates its product, encourages doctors to prescribe the new version, and can offer no justification other than harming generic rivals, antitrust liability should be on the table. We thus disagree with Jack E. Pace III and Kevin C. Adam, who would limit antitrust...

Pharmaceutical antitrust law is hard. When drug companies delay generic entry, is that beneficial “life-cycle management”? Or is it unjustified anti-competitive behavior? The question arises in multiple settings, including patent settlements by which brand firms pay generics to delay...

In the past year, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have catapulted into public attention. While PBMs initially helped patients by reducing burdens and lowering price, today they are doing the opposite. This short piece outlines 6 steps that could address the PBM problem. Congress can take four:...

This comment highlights the importance of context, the appropriate test, and balance for the IP/competition intersection. First, it emphasizes the importance of context, in particular the regulatory regime in the pharmaceutical industry, highlighting the role the FTC can play through litigation,...

This document (of 401 pages) comprises the proceedings of an OECD roundtable on competition and regulation issues in the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical sector is a dynamic, research-intensive industry that is fundamentally influenced by a web of regulations designed to (a) promote...

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 holding in FTC v. Actavis, Inc. that antitrust liability can attach to reverse payment patent settlements, courts have diverged about how to determine whether private parties who prove that such an agreement violates antitrust law are entitled to any...