New Drugs Competing With Sovaldi Is Evidence of the Inefficiency of the Patent System

The NYT tells us the good news on the cost of giving people Sovaldi for treating Hepatitis C. First, the annual costs are likely to fall in the years ahead as the backlog of people with the disease are cured and the numbers needing treatment declines sharply. Second, new effective drugs will come on the market and compete with Sovaldi, driving the price down.

In a context where the government gives Savaldi a patent monopoly it is good to have multiple drugs that can provide competition. Howev...