Strategies that delay or prevent the timely availability of affordable generic drugs in the United States

Abstract

High cancer drug prices are influenced by the availability of generic cancer drugs in a timely manner. Several strategies have been used to delay the availability of affordable generic drugs into the United States and world markets. These include reverse payment or pay-for-delay patent settlements, authorized generics, product hopping, lobbying against crossborder drug importation, buying out the competition, and others. In this forum, we detail these strategies and how they can be prevented.