Pharmaceutical patents

• Article
• Discussion
• Edit
• History
• Bookmark

Bulls Perspectives Feeling Bullish? Be the first to explain why this would make a good investment See all Bears Reasons Bears Perspectives Acquisition of Biotech firms 0% agree Acquisition of Biotech firms Big Pharma is increasingly acquiring biotech start-ups as their own R&D processes become more costly and less productive View or Edit Reason 0 votes 0% agree High number of drugs coming off patent terms 0% agree High number of drugs coming off patent terms Pharmaceutical pipelines are drying up and a very high number of blockbuster drugs are coming off patent View or Edit Reason 0 votes 0% agree Stringent terms from FDA 0% agree Stringent terms from FDA The FDA is becoming even more stringent with clinical trials and the drug approval process View or Edit Reason 0 votes 0% agree Send the authors a comment or suggestion Be the first to make a suggestion See All Suggestions

Top Contributors Sean Hinton Related Articles Clinical trials FDA regulation Generic Drugs (Small Molecule)

This article describes a concept which could impact a variety of companies and industries. The article lists companies that could benefit or be harmed by the trend. To see what companies and articles reference this concept page, click here.

Pharmaceutical patents protect manufacturers of prescription drugs, prohibiting others from producing a drug during the length of its patent protection. The length of these patents varies in different countries, though they are usually between 15-20 years. In the U.S., a pharmaceutical patent is valid for 20 years. Drug companies usually apply for patent protection before they actually begin producing the drug, opting instead to secure their rights to a particular compound at the beginning of the testing process. By the time a drug comes to market, there may only be 8-10 years of patent protection remaining, which is significantly less than the 20 offered by the patent. Companies often attempt to extend these patents by making slight reformulations of the original compound or proving its effectiveness at treating a condition other than the one for which it was originally granted a patent. This is referred to as "evergreening", a practice which many criticize.

For further information on the process of obtaining pharmaceutical patents and regulatory approval, see Clinical Trials and FDA Approval.

For more information about pharmaceutical patents in relation to generic versions of drugs, see Generic Drugs.