Pharmaceutical Antitrust Complexity

Posted by Social Science Research Network

Pharmaceutical Antitrust Complexity – Michael A. Carrier (Rutgers University School of Law – Camden)

ABSTRACT: The pharmaceutical industry is unique in its complexity. Markets are nuanced. Multiple regulatory regimes apply. Generic entry is an event with dramatic consequences. These characteristics have encouraged brand-name drug firms to engage in an array of conduct that exploits this complexity to delay generic entry.

This essay discusses these issues, focusing on two activities: (1) “product hopping” from one version of a drug to another and (2) settlements by which brands pay generics to delay entry.