Agree and I believe I called it an effective monopoly following that quote. But, it's simply not regulated today. You'd have a hard time proving they are prici

Agree and I believe I called it an effective monopoly following that quote. But, it's simply not regulated today. You'd have a hard time proving they are pricing in this way as a means to hold the monopoly. They could point to their margins and say, "plenty of room for competition" but meanwhile you can't force other manufacturers to ramp up production without even fatter margins. They'd need margin + market share to break even. It usually only when the market is very large, manufacturing is not complex, or when the original manufacturer is still charging a lot for generic (sometimes only a bit lower than Brand). That another manufacturer will ramp up production. Often times, even manufacturing a generic drug requires steep initial investment and can be risky. Even for generics with multiple manufactures, "multiple" might be only a handful. When you compare that fact, to the pricing trends they follow, it then is an effective oligopoly. And while I don't believe it to be the case, the pricing trends I've seen sure do look like collusion. My experience is it's more like an indirect collusion, where company A employs folks that have worked for competitors A, B, and C. So when they hear "through the grapevine" that company B is going to increase prices 10% next quarter, suddenly everyone is increasing prices 10% next quarter (give or take). [This I've witnessed myself a number of times]