To keep drug prices high, pharma has been piling up the patents
摘要
一项发表于JAMA的研究显示，自1990年以来，美国小分子药物专利数量增长逾三倍，从平均每款药物2.1项增至2019年的6.9项。增长主要来自“非主要专利”，即涉及非活性成分微调、用药方式更新或给药装置设计等，而非药物活性成分本身。这些额外专利可形成“专利丛林”，延迟低价仿制药上市，使药价在缺乏实际临床进步的情况下长期维持高位。
The cost of healthcare in general is a debilitating, pre-existing condition for Americans. But the high prices of prescription drugs usually stand out as a pain point. While there are many insidious reasons why Americans pay more—often far more—for their medicines than people in peer countries, exploitation of the US patent system is an obvious one.
A study published Monday in JAMA highlights just how much patent exploitation has grown since 1990. In that time, researchers found the number of patents on small-molecule drugs have more than tripled, going from an average of 2.1 patents per drug approved in 1990 to 6.9 for those approved in 2019.
Most of the growth was in "nonprimary" patents—patents that generally aren't related to a drug's active ingredient, but are instead for things like minor tweaks to a drug's non-active ingredients, updates to the way the drug is used, or the design of specialty delivery devices, such as auto-injectors. Together, those extra patents on an individual drug can create what's called a "patent thicket," which delays the release of affordable generics on the market, keeping drug prices higher for longer without actual clinical advancements.
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