More drugmakers file continuation patents that sideline generics

Amid concerns that the pharmaceutical industry unfairly wins monopolies on medicines, a new analysis finds there has been a whopping 200% increase in patents filed by companies that made few substantive changes to their drugs during a 15-year period.

Pharmaceutical companies often file what are known as continuation patents in order to extend their window to thwart lower-cost generic competitors from reaching the market. But critics argue such patents can amount to inconsequential tweaks, which bolster bottom lines, but force the U.S. health care system to pay higher prices for medicines for extended periods.

The latest analysis bears this out.

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