West Virginia University College of Law professor S. Sean Tu recently published a new Research Letter in JAMA. The article, titled "Changes in the Number of Continuation Patents on Drugs Approved by the FDA", is the result of a comprehensive study of all drug patents from 2000-2015. Professor Tu and co-authors examine the frequency of continuation patents on brand-name drugs and how they contribute to the creation of patent thickets. Professor Tu co-authored this new work with Aaron S. Kesselheim, and William B. Feldman of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and with Kathrine Wetherbee of Duke University. It was published online by the journal on August 1, 2023.
Professor Tu has also been interviewed by media outlets on this topic following the article's publication:
Continuation Patents Have Surged, Disrupting Generic Competition, Study Shows, MedPage Today, August 1, 2023
More drugmakers are filing continuation patents that sideline generic competition, STAT+, August 8, 2023
Find more of Professor Tu's scholarship on SSRN.