Rx‐to‐OTC Switch, Market Exclusivity, and Consumer Welfare: A Study of the US Anti‐Ulcer Drug Markets
研究了美国抗溃疡药物市场中，给予首个非处方药市场独占权（不考虑处方药专利到期）的政策，发现该政策导致企业延迟进入非处方药市场，使消费者福利减少16亿美元；若将独占权与处方药专利到期挂钩，则可改善药品可及性并增加34亿美元消费者福利。
ABSTRACT We study the US Anti‐Ulcer Drug market, where market exclusivity is granted to the first over‐the‐counter (OTC) drug independent of prescription drugs' patent expiry. We show that due to the interplay of incentives in the prescription and OTC drug markets, compared to a world with no market exclusivity policy, the status quo design reduces consumer welfare by 1.6 billion USD, as it causes many firms to delay entry into the OTC drug market until prescription drug patents expire. An alternative policy linking OTC exclusivity provision to prescription drug patent expiry dates improves drug access and increases consumer welfare by 3.4 billion USD.