Patents, Price Regulation and Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry

UPF Economics and Business Working Paper No. 754

19 Pages Posted: 12 Jul 2004

See all articles by Vicente Ortun

Vicente Ortun

Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Department of Economics and Business

Date Written: May 2004

Abstract

The trade-off between property rights/price regulation and innovation depends on country characteristics and drug industry specificities. Access to drugs and innovation can be reconciled by seven ways that, among others, include: public health strengthening in the countries with the largest access problems (those among the poor with the weakest institutions); public and private aid to make attractive R&D on neglected diseases; price discrimination with market segmentation; to require patent owners to choose either protection in the rich countries or protection in the poor countries (but not both). Regarding price regulation, after a review of theoretical arguments and empirical evidence, seven strategies to reconcile health and industrial considerations are outlined, including: mitigation of the medical profession dependence on the pharmaceutical industry; consideration of a drug as an input of a production process; split drug authorization from public funding decisions; establish an efficiency minimum for all health production inputs; and stop the European R&D hemorrhagia.

Keywords: Pharmaceutical R&D, access to drugs, patents, price regulation, industrial policy, health policy

JEL Classification: I18, D45, P35, K23

Suggested Citation

Ortun, Vicente, Patents, Price Regulation and Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry (May 2004). UPF Economics and Business Working Paper No. 754, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=563842 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.563842

Vicente Ortun (Contact Author)

Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Department of Economics and Business ( email )

Ramon Trias Fargas 25-27
Barcelona, 08005
Spain
(34) 93 542 18 57 (Phone)
(34) 93 542 17 46 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.upf.edu/~ortun/

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