4 ms·
No, it doesn't. Generic companies can make replicates of the original drug easily when the original patent expires.
by yahoo893 13y ago
No, it doesn't. Generic companies can make replicates of the original drug easily when the original patent expires.
- ceejayoz 13y agoDrug companies have tackled that in a variety of ways. Outright bribery of generic companies to hold off on production (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/17/supreme-court-brand-generic-drug-profit-sharing-deals/2178489/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/17/supreme...), scaremongering over safety of the generic (the article being discussed in this thread), paying doctors for prescribing the more expensive versions, etc.
- mistercow 13y agoYes, but those generics will be cheap, whereas the new drug will be expensive. Since the doctors are reimbursed based on a percentage of the cost of the drug, they will choose the more expensive one, just like they do now. A cheap competitor already exists. Adding another cheap competitor won't help when doctors are incentivized to use the most expensive option.
- refurb 13y agoYou're forgettingabout the incentives of the insurers. They will be the ones to require the cheaper alternative, similar to the way many insurers require the use of Avastin for AMD unless there is a good reason to use Lucentis.
- ceejayoz 13y ago> They will be the ones to require the cheaper alternative They likely can't in this situation, as the cheaper alternative is off-label.
- astrange 13y agoInformative replies to this in another comment thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6870036 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6870036