Grabowski’s Research on Patents and R&D Incentives Published in Health Affairs

06 February 2015 1:11PM

Professor Emeritus Henry Grabowski’s new research has been published in the February issue of Health Affairs. “The Roles of Patents and Research and Development Incentives in Biopharmaceutical Innovation” is featured in the intellectual property and innovation section of the health policy journal, which this month delves into the topic of biomedical innovation.

Grabowski, who specializes in pharmaceutical health economics, collaborated on the study with Joseph DiMasi of Tufts University and Genia Long of Analysis Group. They analyzed the roles of patents and other forms of intellectual property protection in incentivizing innovation in biopharmaceutical research.

According to the authors, the current landscape for biopharmaceutical research and development is divided into two opposing camps: “how best to balance patent and intellectual property incentives to encourage innovation, on the one hand, and generic utilization and price competition, on the other hand.”

In their study, Grabowski, DiMasi, and Long examine the framework for incentivizing innovation in this area. While they conclude that patents and regulatory exclusivity will probably continue to be the “core approach to providing incentives,” they believe prizes and other types of supplements could help to address “unmet needs and gaps in specific circumstances.” 

Read the abstract on the Health Affairs website.

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