Exploring Evergreening: Insights from Two Medicines

Hazel V.J. Moir*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    6 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Litigated pharmaceutical patents are a valuable source of data on how much inventiveness is required for a patent grant and what are the costs of patents. Although innovation is central to economic growth and the competitiveness of firms, there are few data about either the cost of granted patents or the quantum of inventiveness required for a patent. Two cases of litigated pharmaceutical patents allow investigation of two types of secondary ‘evergreening’ patents—new formulations and closely related chemical variants. Both lead to higher Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme outlays, and in some cases, these can be substantial. There are clear policy implications.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)413-431
    Number of pages19
    JournalAustralian Economic Review
    Volume49
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2016

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