The effect of Paragraph IV decisions and generic entry before patent expiration on brand pharmaceutical firms;

摘要

This purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of Paragraph IV patent infringement decisions on brand drug pharmaceutical firms. Paragraph IV decisions determine whether a generic firm can enter before the period of exclusivity ends. I construct a novel dataset of all Paragraph IV decisions and find that they disproportionately involve the highest revenue drugs, significant periods of patent protection, and a non-trivial portion of all brand drugs facing generic entry. I also estimate the impact of Paragraph IV decisions on brand firm profitability and find they have large value consequences.