One of the most heated discussions in economics in recent years has concerned the relationship between market structure and innovation. After a half-century of debate and innumerable studies, the consensus is that there is no clear answer to the question. On a concrete level, the uncertainty...

This short article summarizes FTC v. Actavis, the first case in which the Supreme Court analyzed the antitrust legality of agreements by which brand-name drug companies pay generics to settle patent litigation and delay entering the market. It concludes that the ruling must be counted as a win...

Pharmaceutical antitrust law is hard. When drug companies delay generic entry, is that beneficial “life-cycle management”? Or is it unjustified anti-competitive behavior? The question arises in multiple settings, including patent settlements by which brand firms pay generics to delay...

The pharmaceutical industry is unique in its complexity. Markets are nuanced. Multiple regulatory regimes apply. Generic entry is an event with dramatic consequences. These characteristics have encouraged brand-name drug firms to engage in an array of conduct that exploits this complexity to...

Since the Supreme Court's decision in FTC v. Actavis, the question that has received the most attention is whether “payment” is limited to cash or encompasses non-cash forms of consideration. The courts, including the Third Circuit in the “King Drug” case, have consistently held that...

Pharmaceutical markets are complex. Multiple agents, including doctors, insurers, and pharmacies, play critical roles that affect competition between manufacturers and patient choice between drugs. This complexity, however, is neglected in standard antitrust analysis. In evaluating proposed...

One of the most difficult legal issues today involves settlements by which brand-name drug companies pay generic firms to delay entering the market. Such conduct requires courts to consider not only patent and antitrust law, but also the Hatch-Waxman Act, the complex regime governing behavior in...

The Supreme Court's decision in FTC v. Actavis has justly received widespread attention for its antitrust analysis of settlements by which brand-name drug companies pay generics to delay entering the market. Much of the attention has focused on the application of the Court's standard and the...

In my testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, I explained the benefits of legislation addressing anticompetitive conduct that brand-name drug companies have employed: sample denials, pay-for-delay settlements, citizen petitions, product hopping, and patent thickets. By increasing generic...