Mylan is itching to make a generic version of Biogen's popular multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera, but that won't be happening for a while now that federal patent reviewers turned down Mylan's patent challenge.
The big picture: The victory for Biogen not only secures several more years of monopoly pricing for the company — Biogen has a history of raising Tecfidera's list price by at least 5% per year — but also likely will create a higher baseline price for when Tecfidera generics finally come out.
- "Every year that goes by when a generic is delayed is another 6+% increase in the price the generic will cost when it finally hits the market," University of Pittsburgh professor and pharmaceutical expert Walid Gellad tweeted last week.
Go deeper: Higher prices for brand-name drugs inevitably lead to higher prices for generics