• The lifecycle for new drug development
• Intellectual property rights and incentives for innovation
• Trends in pharmaceutical pricing
• Policies to reduce prescription drug costs

Learning objectives
• What is the trade-off between monopoly pricing and innovation in new drug development.
• What are the drivers of rising prescription drug costs?
• What are potential policy solutions to reduce prescription drug spending?

Select an article from those listed under your topic as your main reference paper which you will summarize for your project

Support the theories/ideas/findings in your main reference paper with at least two additional articles from the listed articles/blog posts

Address these issues in your paper
(1) What is the research question or objective being considered?
(2) What is the underlying economic model or framework motivating the question or issue being investigated?
(3) What data and methods are used to analyze the question or issue?
(4) What are the key findings or take-away points of the analysis? How would you extend this study?
(5) What are the implications of this study for the health sector / how is this research connected to the theories/topics in health economics

Articles/Blogs:
Kesselheim A, Avorn J, Sarpatwari A (2016). “The High Cost of Prescription Drugs in the United States: Origins and Prospects for Reform.” JAMA 316(8): 858-871.

Sood N, Shih T, Van Nuys K, Goldman D. “Follow The Money: The Flow of Funds in the Pharmaceutical Distribution System.” Health Affairs Blog June 13, 2017.

http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2017/06/13/follow-the-money-the-flow-of-funds-in-the-pharmaceutical-distributionsystem/
Bach P (2014). “Indication-Specific Pricing for Cancer Drugs.” JAMA 312(16): 1629-1630.

Chandra A, Garthwaite C (2017). “The Economics of Indication-Based Drug Pricing.” NEJM 377(2): 103-106.

Yu N, Helms Z, Bach P. “R&D Costs For Pharmaceutical Companies Do Not Explain Elevated US Drug Prices.” Health Affairs Blog March 7, 2017.
http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2017/03/07/rd-costs-for-pharmaceutical-companies-do-not-explain-elevated-us-drugprices/

Grabowski H, Manning R. “Drug Prices and Medical Innovation: A Response to Yu Helms and Bach.” Health Affairs
Blog June 2, 2017. http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2017/06/02/drug-prices-and-medical-innovation-a-response-to-yu-helms-and-bach/

National Academies of Sciences (2017). “A National Strategy for the Elimination of Hepatitis B and C: Phase Two Report.” Summary: 1-14. https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24731/a-national-strategy-for-the-elimination-of-hepatitis-b-and-c

Bach P, Giralt SA, Saltz LB (2017). “FDA Approval of Tisagenlecleucel: Promise and Complexities of a $475,000 Cancer Drug.” JAMA September 20, 2017.

Berndt ER, Nass D, Kleinrock M, Aitken M (2015). “Decline in Economic Returns From New Drugs Raises Questions About Sustaining Innovations.” Health Affairs 34(2): 245-252.

Conti RM, Rosenthal MB (2016). “Pharmaceutical Policy Reform—Balancing Affordability with Incentives for Innovation.” NEJM 374:703-706.

Cox C, Kamal R, Jankiewicz, et al. (2016). “Recent Trends in Prescription Drug Costs.” JAMA 315(13): 1326.

Goldman D, Lakdawalla D (2011). “Chapter 13- Intellectual Property, Information Technology, Biomedical Research, and Marketing of Patented Products.” In “Handbook of Health Economics, Volume 2. Pp: 825-872. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978044453592400013X