Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Health Working Papers No. 156: Enhancing Competition in On-patent Markets

Excerpt:  “The 2018 OECD report Pharmaceutical Innovation and Access to Medicines noted that fostering competition in both on- and off-patent markets can improve the efficiency of pharmaceutical spending. Unlike generic or biosimilar versions of originator products, patented medicines with similar mechanisms of action may not be directly substitutable, but they may nevertheless represent reasonable therapeutic alternatives. … This paper presents the key findings of an analysis of the existence and extent of within-class competition between patented products representing therapeutic alternatives, assessed using data from six therapeutic classes of medicines across seven major European markets.”