When Patents Outlive Patients: Evergreening And The Crisis Of Drug Affordability

Abstract

Evergreening refers to extending pharmaceutical patent monopolies by formulating slight changes to current drugs and has become a notable impediment to accessible healthcare around the world. The objective of patent protection is to boost innovation; however, evergreening is the strategic abuse of extending monopolies, delaying the entry of generics, and keeping high prices on medicines. This paper seeks to review the methods and consequences of evergreening, focusing on its effect on public health, the health budget of a nation, and the availability of medicines globally. This is illustrated by Novartis’s Gleevec, AbbVie’s Humira, and Warner Chilcott’s Doryx, which reflects the rising cost of treatment due to the adverse influence on competition and the rising inequity between rich and poor nations. The paper also critiques policy and legal responses, which includes India’s Section 3(d), competition law interventions and the WTO and WHO international legal frameworks, and suggests reforms on patent examination, competition law, and international collaboration. This paper ultimately insists that evergreening must be curtailed to offer a better equilibrium concerning the right to health and the incentivizing of innovation. This is to advocate for the provision of affordable, life-saving medicines.