Pharmaceutical Industry Patent Assessment
Patents are a key element of Intellectual Property and provide a competitive edge to the pharmaceutical industry. The exclusive property rights provided by patents restrict competition in production and sales of medicine allowing companies to charge higher prices without concern for competition. The global standard of twenty years from the application date protecting the company’s significant research and testing investment. This is standard is important because it can take 10-15 years to develop a single product. Pharmaceutical industry patents also have tremendous impact on health care policies due to their influence on the cost of medicine. A new medication can cost in the billions of dollars requiring pharmaceutical companies to incur significant risk. The patent mitigates that risk encouraging medical companies to pursue new, innovation medicines that are essential to medical advancements.
The pharmaceutical industry grew rapidly from the early 90’s until 2008. Blockbuster drug sales produced large revenues for their companies leading this period of growth. However, events in recent history have begun to impact the industry and the future of pharmaceutical patents. The 2008 financial crisis significantly impacted growth as demand of medicine decreased. This economic recession, combined with multiple key blockbuster drug patents expiring in the last 4 years, changed and continues to impact the future of the pharmaceutical industry and new drug innovation. Approximately 81 branded drugs expired 2010-2013 ( ) including 30 blockbuster drugs each previously generating over a billion in sales annually. This recent loss of pharmaceutical sales is impacting the drug company’s p...
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... the challenges will increase in the prescription drug market. Pharmaceutical companies will seek federal grant and private funding to offset the cost of research and development essential to new drug development. Academic and federal research facilities will increasingly be valuable R&D partners. Policies to reduce the patent approval process in America will be emphasized and international policy on pharmaceutical industry patents will increase in significance with United States focus on ensuring American companies remain competitive. The future for pharmaceutical companies may be unclear but one know fact that is absolutely clear is America and the world are aging and this will drive a continued focus on the need for continue new drug development. Patent protection will be vital to protect innovators as they seek to discover the new drugs needed in the future.