Date of Award

1-1-2013

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences

First Advisor

Peter Ho, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Markus Schneider

Third Advisor

Yavuz Yasar

Keywords

Drug, Patent, Pharmaceutical

Abstract

This paper seeks to determine if extended patent terms can positively effect the production of drugs that treat rare diseases. It reviews the structure of the modern pharmaceutical company and considers the regulatory history that lead to this structure. The paper applies historically significant economic research in the field of patents and considers patent alternatives to establish the best method for incentivizing the development of these drugs. The paper finds that while there are numerous pitfalls and issues with the patent method, there are no viable alternatives. It also concludes that extending patent terms for drugs that treat rare diseases can act as a catalyst to orphan drug development.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Joanna Louise Thompson

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

100 p.

Discipline

Economics



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