This paper investigates patterns of industrial dynamics and competition in the pharmaceutical industry, with particular reference to the consequences of patent expiry in different countries. We focus on the competition at the level of single chemical entities, distinguishing between original...

The pharmaceutical industry is a textbook example of a science based sector characterized by high R&D cost, uncertain and spillovers for which patent protection assures appropriability thus providing incentives for innovation. Indeed, Mansfield (1986) found that, absent patent protection, 60...

This paper constitutes an attempt at investigating processes of dynamic competition in pharmaceuticals, with reference to the nature and intensity of price competition in relation to patent expiry.We focus on what happens to drug prices and to the diffusion of multi-sourceproducts both before...