One of Big Pharma’s anti-competitive tactics is the practice of filing dozens or even hundreds of patents on just one drug to create a patent thicket to keep competition out of the market. This strategy netted $158 billion on just four top-selling biologic drugs between primary patent expiration and biosimilar launch.

Across brand drugs, pharma list prices are 422 percent higher in the U.S. than in other countries.

The list price for a pair of autoinjectors for Dupixent, a biologic used to treat COPD, asthma, and eczema among other conditions, is $3,993 in the U.S. – including a 5 percent increase on January 3, 2025, and is more than twice that of France ($1,453).  

The list price for a 30-day supply of Invokana, a drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, is nearly $600 in the U.S., which is nine times higher than in Canada ($64).

The list price for a 30-day supply of Opsumit, a drug that treats pulmonary arterial hypertension, is nearly $13,000 after a 2.5 percent price increase on January 3, 2025, which is six times higher than in Australia ($1,971).

Of the 356 drugs approved by the FDA between 2010-2019, 99.4 percent included research funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Drug companies spend roughly $6 billion each year on DTC ads. From 2016 to 2018, they spent $17.8 billion on DTC ads.

Ten of the largest drug companies spent $36 billion — or 37 percent — more on sales expenses and marketing than on research and development.