"Patents and Evergreening: Exploring their Impact on Unaffordable Drug Prices."

The issue of unaffordable drug prices is complex and can be influenced by various factors, including patents and evergreening practices. While patents play a crucial role in incentivizing innovation by granting exclusive rights to inventors, they can also contribute to high drug prices, especially when combined with certain strategies like evergreening.

Here's an explanation of these concepts:

Patents: A patent is a legal protection granted by a government that gives inventors exclusive rights over their inventions for a specified period (usually 20 years) from the filing date. Pharmaceutical companies often obtain patents for new drugs, which gives them a monopoly on the production, sale, and distribution of those drugs during the patent term.
Patents provide an incentive for pharmaceutical companies to invest in research and development (R&D) to discover new drugs. However, the exclusive rights granted by patents can also result in high drug prices because companies can charge whatever they deem appropriate to recoup their R&D costs and generate profits.

Evergreening: Evergreening refers to the practice of extending patent protection for an existing drug by making minor modifications to it. These modifications may include changes to the drug's formulation, dosage form, or delivery method. The purpose of evergreening is to extend the monopoly period beyond the original patent's expiration and prevent generic competition.
By obtaining additional patents through evergreening, pharmaceutical companies can continue to sell their drug without facing competition from generic alternatives. This practice can effectively maintain high prices for an extended period, limiting affordability for patients.

Evergreening can be seen as a strategy employed by pharmaceutical companies to maximize their profits, rather than solely focusing on genuine innovation. Critics argue that it can hinder access to affordable medications, particularly when the modifications made to the drug do not significantly improve its therapeutic value.

It's important to note that the issue of unaffordable drug prices is multi-faceted and influenced by various factors beyond patents and evergreening. Other factors include the costs of research and development, clinical trials, marketing, distribution, and the influence of intermediaries such as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and insurance companies.

Efforts to address high drug prices often involve a combination of strategies, including promoting generic competition, negotiating drug prices, price regulation, transparency initiatives, and exploring alternative models for incentivizing innovation.

Governments, policymakers, and international organizations continue to grapple with finding the right balance between incentivizing pharmaceutical innovation and ensuring affordable access to essential medications