---
title: Patents in the US healthcare industry
date: "2004-11-01T12:00:00Z"
categories:
  - links
wp_id: 793
---

Malcolm Gladwell on [drug prices in the US](http://newyorker.com/critics/atlarge/?041025crat_atlarge).

> AstraZeneca twenty-six billion dollars on Prilosec. The patent was due to expire. AstraZeneca decided on a subtle piece of chemical reengineering, creating a single isomer version. The new drug was called Nexium. The F.D.A. gave its blessing, and Nexium hit the pharmacy shelves priced at a hundred and twenty dollars for a month's worth of pills.

But the article goes on to show that the US drug industry isn't necessarily overpriced.