In most cases, older drugs are cheaper than new ones. Patent protection expires after 20 years in most countries, which usually spurs generic competition that drives prices down by an average of 80% within five years. Drug companies, meanwhile, justify high prices early on to recoup their research costs before no-name copies bite into their revenue. And they can stave off rivals by extending patent protections with minor modifications to the initial formula. “The more profitable the product is, the more incentive there is for an originator to litigate and delay,” says Sergio Napolitano, legal affairs director at Medicines for Europe, a trade group of generics producers.