Affordability of medications is a big issue for many people living with a chronic disease, like inflammatory arthritis. One of the drivers of high costs for medications is the misuse of patents by original-brand manufacturers to extend their patent and delay the competition from affordable generic and biosimilar medications. 

In this episode of Arthritis at Home, ACE’s Cheryl Koehn previews the launch of an international grassroots education campaign on pharmaceutical patents, titled “Patients and patents.” Cheryl describes how the awareness raising campaign is focussed on helping patients, health care providers, and the public understand how pharmaceutical patents work. When used responsibly, patents encourage innovation and ensure patients receive new and improved treatments. But when misused to extend patent protection, they can extend monopolies on original-brand medications and delay access to more affordable treatment options and strain health system budgets.

 Additional learning resources

• About the Campaign fact sheet
• Questions and Answers
• Infographic
• Glossary of Key Terms
• Social Media Kit