"Brand-brand" competition generally results in higher prices for consumers, a new study says. File Photo by wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock

July 30 (UPI) -- Competition among companies that produce name-brand drugs won't lower prices, a new study says.

"Brand-brand" competition is when companies battle to set favorable prices for drugs that treat the same condition. However, research published Tuesday in PLOS Medicine says the competition usually leads to higher prices for consumers.


"Although some examples of price lowering have been observed in the U.S. market -- most notably among the new direct-acting antiviral drugs treating hepatitis C virus infection -- prices of existing brand-name drugs have also risen following the introduction of brand-name competition," the authors wrote.

For the study, the researchers set out to explore how competition in the prescription drug market affected prices.

Using PubMed and EconLit databases, they came across 10 studies assessing a broad array of drug classes, which are categories that classify medications based on the conditions they treat. The studies were conducted between 1990 and 2019.

All of the research concluded competition among pharmaceutical brands did not bring down drug costs.

Two studies did, however, suggest competition could keep prices in check when drugs first hit the market. Three other studies hinted that companies would set higher prices for safer and more effective drugs within a class. And another study reviewed 360 drugs between 1994 and 2013, finding that medications marketed heavily usually carried higher prices.

"Our findings suggest that policies to promote brand-brand competition in the U.S. pharmaceutical market, such as accelerating approval of non-first-in-class drugs, will likely not result in lower drug list prices absent additional structural reforms," the authors wrote.