The U.S. could rein in rising drug prices by being more selective about giving patents to pharmaceutical companies for marginal developments, a study concludes.
That's because brand-name drugs with patents that grant exclusivity account for about 72 percent of drug spending, even though they are only about 10 percent of all prescriptions dispensed, according to the study, published Tuesday in JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association.
"You've got a bunch of different tactics that are being used that can extend that exclusivity," says Aaron Kesselheim, a professor at Harvard Medical School and the study's lead author.
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