Pharma companies fight behind-the-scenes wars over generic drugs

“A ll good things must come to an end” is a proverb that brand-name drug makers have trouble taking to heart. Just look at the strategies used to prevent competitors from bringing less-expensive generics to market.

Pharmaceutical research has led to tremendous advances in medicine. Because of the extraordinarily high cost of bringing new drugs to the market, our intellectual property system is designed to ensure that drug companies recoup their investment and earn a profit. After a period of time, though, generic competitors are supposed to be able to enter the market and bring down prices through competition.

But they are often blocked by the makers of brand-name drugs who try to hold off competition and wring out as much profit as possible. Indeed, drug companies are