Monthly Round-Up of What to Read on Pharma Law and Policy

By Ameet Sarpatwari, Michael S. Sinha, and Aaron S. Kesselheim

Each month, members of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) review the peer-reviewed medical literature to identify interesting empirical studies, policy analyses, and editorials on health law and policy issues relevant to current or potential future work in the Division.

Below are the abstracts/summaries for papers identified from the month of April. The selections feature topics ranging from experience with the FDA breakthrough drug designation pathway; to the impact of off-patent drug acquisitions on prices; to the Indian pharmaceutical patent prosecution. A full posting of abstracts/summaries of these articles may be found on our website.

  1. Corrigan-Curay J, McKee AE, Stein P. Breakthrough-Therapy Designation—An FDA Perspective. N Engl J Med. 2018 Apr 12;378(15):1457-1458.
  2. Darrow JJ, Avorn J, Kesselheim AS. The FDA Breakthrough-Drug Designation – Four Years of Experience. N Engl J Med. 2018 Apr 12;378(15):1444-1453.
  3. Desai RJ, Sarpatwari A, Dejene S, Khan NF, Lii J, Rogers JR, Dutcher SK, Raofi S, Bohn J, Connolly J, Fischer MA, Kesselheim AS, Gagne JJ. Differences in rates of switchbacks after switching from branded to authorized generic and branded to generic drug products: cohort study. BMJ. 2018 Apr 3;361:k1180.
  4. Goldman AL, McCormick D, Haas JS, Sommers BD. Effects of the ACA’s Health Insurance Marketplaces on the Previously Uninsured: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis. Health Aff. 2018 Apr;37(4):591-599.
  5. Gupta R, Henkel A, Forman HP, Ross JS. The Impact of Off-Patent Drug Acquisitions on Prices. J Gen Intern Med. 2018 Apr 23. [Epub ahead of print]
  6. Hwang TJ, Franklin JM, Chen CT, Lauffenburger JC, Gyawali B, Kesselheim AS, Darrow JJ. Efficacy, Safety, and Regulatory Approval of Food and Drug Administration-Designated Breakthrough and Nonbreakthrough Cancer Medicines. J Clin Oncol. 2018 Apr 24. [Epub ahead of print]
  7. Sampat BN, Shadlen KC. Indian pharmaceutical patent prosecution: The changing role of Section 3(d). PLoS One. 2018 Apr 2;13(4):e0194714.

Ameet Sarpatwari

Ameet Sarpatwari is an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an Associate Epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Assistant Director of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) within the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics. His research draws upon his interdisciplinary training as an epidemiologist and lawyer and focuses on the effects of laws and regulations on therapeutic development, approval, use, and related public health outcomes.

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