Article

Impacts of Patent Expiry of Pharmaceutical Treatments in Eight OECD Countries, 2004-2010

Ernst R. Berndt, and Pierre Dubois

Abstract

Variability in regulatory frameworks, industrial policy, physician/pharmacy autonomy, brand/generic distinctions, and the practice of medicine contribute to ambiguous interpretations of cross-country pharmaceutical cost comparisons. Here, we report cross-country comparisons that: (i) focus on ten therapeutic classes experiencing patent expiration and loss of exclusivity 2004–2010 in eight industrialized countries; (ii) convert revenues and unit sales to cost per day of treatment and number patient days treated using the World Health Organization’s Defined Daily Dosage metrics; (iii) compare patterns in costs per day of treatment with price index measures based on average price per day of treatment for each molecule computed over all molecule versions; (iv) utilizing econometric methods, model and quantify various factors affecting variations in daily treatment price indexes such as national regulatory and reimbursement policy changes, physician/pharmacy autonomy, and other factors; and (v) simulate changes in expenditures by country and therapeutic class had counterfactual policies been implemented.

Keywords

Cross-Country Comparisons; Pharmaceutical Costs; Generic Drugs;

JEL codes

  • D4: Market Structure and Pricing
  • I11: Analysis of Health Care Markets
  • I18: Government Policy • Regulation • Public Health
  • L11: Production, Pricing, and Market Structure • Size Distribution of Firms
  • L65: Chemicals • Rubber • Drugs • Biotechnology
  • O34: Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

Replaces

Ernst R. Berndt, and Pierre Dubois, Impacts of Patent Expiry and Regulatory Policies on Daily Cost of Pharmaceutical Treatments: OECD Countries, 2004-2010, IDEI Working Paper, n. 702, March 2012.

Ernst R. Berndt, and Pierre Dubois, Impacts of Patent Expiry and Regulatory Policies on Daily Cost of Pharmaceutical Treatments: OECD Countries, 2004-2010, TSE Working Paper, n. 12-283, March 2012.

Reference

Ernst R. Berndt, and Pierre Dubois, Impacts of Patent Expiry of Pharmaceutical Treatments in Eight OECD Countries, 2004-2010, International Journal of the Economics of Business, vol. 23, n. 2, May 2016, pp. 125–147.

Published in

International Journal of the Economics of Business, vol. 23, n. 2, May 2016, pp. 125–147