2 ms·
Generic medicines aren't available until the 20-year patent period runs out. Some of the profits from the patent period go to more research to make new drugs an
by WildUtah 15y ago
Generic medicines aren't available until the 20-year patent period runs out. Some of the profits from the patent period go to more research to make new drugs and obtain new patent rights. (Pharma is one of the exceptional few fields in which patents promote innovation instead of taking their usual role of blocking it.)
The additional profits that come from lobbying after year 20 to keep out generics don't get reinvested into more research, they get reinvested into more lobbying.
- raganwald 15y agoWhat makes the entire industry possible is that Canada only grants drug patent protection for five years, while America grants drug patent protection for twenty. Therefore, there’s a fifteen-year period during which Canadian companies can legally manufacture generic drugs that are illegal to import into the USA. I suspect a lot of the talk about counterfeits and generics misses the third category, generics that are contraband in the USA because they are still under patent protection.