Generics have been a salvation for Americans who struggle to pay the cost of brand name drugs. Yet while we are all grateful for affordable drugs, people often wonder about the enormous disparity in price between branded and generic drugs.

The accompanying resource sheds light on that question. One of the first things you may notice in the resource is that the patent process is long, complex, expensive — and seldom successful. Drug companies spend billions researching new drugs, most of which never hit the pharmacy shelves. Without patent protection — and the ability to charge high prices that goes along with that protection — drug manufacturers would never be able to recoup the investment they make in research and development. Without that R&D, we’d all be much worse off, medically speaking. (more…)