How the US patent system keeps drug prices high

2026-07-06

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Americans pay roughly three times as much for prescription meds as people in other wealthy nations. But why? Tahir Amin argues it’s largely to do with how our patent systems work. He’s been on both sides of the issue: He spent a decade as an intellectual property lawyer, helping corporations use patents to protect their bottom lines. Then he moved to India and saw firsthand how the global patent system hampered access to HIV drugs. That led him to shift gears and create an advocacy organization aimed at ...

Americans pay roughly three times as much for prescription meds as people in other wealthy nations. But why?

Tahir Amin argues it’s largely to do with how our patent systems work. He’s been on both sides of the issue: He spent a decade as an intellectual property lawyer, helping corporations use patents to protect their bottom lines. Then he moved to India and saw firsthand how the global patent system hampered access to HIV drugs.

That led him to shift gears and create an advocacy organization aimed at changing the patent system to make access to medicines more equitable. He chats with Flora about how it all works, and his new book, “Pharma Monopoly.”

Read an excerpt from “Pharma Monopoly: The Battle for the Future of Medicines.”

Guest:

Tahir Amin is a co-author of “Pharma Monopoly: The Battle for the Future of Medicines” and a founder and CEO of Initiatives for Medicine Access and Knowledge (I-MAK).

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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