How a Drug Company Made $114 Billion by Gaming the U.S. Patent System

Through its savvy but legal exploitation of the U.S. patent system, Humira’s manufacturer, AbbVie, blocked competitors from entering the market. Some Medicare patients have been suffering as a result. AbbVie executives have acknowledged that Medicare patients often pay much more than privately insured people, but they said the blame lay with Medicare. He said AbbVie provided the drug for virtually nothing to nearly 40 percent of Medicare patients. The post How a Drug Company Made $114 Billion by Gaming the U.S. Patent System appeared first on New York Times.