To keep drug prices high, pharma has been piling up the patents

What happened

In that time, researchers found the number of patents on small-molecule drugs have more than tripled, going from an average of 2.1 patents per drug approved in 1990 to 6.9 for those approved in 2019. Add-on patents have increased drug patent periods from two years to over six.

The cost of healthcare in general is a debilitating, pre-existing condition for Americans. But the high prices of prescription drugs usually stand out as a pain point. While there are many insidious reasons why Americans pay more—often far more—for their medicines than people in peer countries, exploitation of the US patent system is an obvious one.

Key facts

• In that time, researchers — found: the number of patents on small-molecule drugs have more than tripled, going from an average of 2.1 patents per drug approved in 1990 to 6.9 for those approved in 2019