Law360 Quotes Professor Lee on Hatch-Waxman Act, 40 Years Later

Professor Peter Lee spoke to Law360 for a Sept. 27 story on why drug prices in the United States remain high 40 years after the groundbreaking Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act, or Hatch-Waxman Act, became law.

Although the legislation helped make generic drugs more available, drug companies found workarounds to it, Lee and other legal experts told Law360.

“The increased introduction of generic drugs and attendant revenue erosion created an incentive for pharmaceutical companies to raise prices – sometimes dramatically – on drugs that were still under patent,” Lee said.

Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law Peter Lee teaches and writes in the field of innovation law and policy. His research focuses on patent law and other fields of intellectual property, technology transfer, artificial intelligence (AI), and science policy. He founded and directs UC Davis Law’s Center for Innovation, Law, and Society.