Anti-competition in Pharma

The Health Business Blog notes that big pharma has a number of ways of squeezing out generics:

Branded pharmaceutical companies have pioneered a number of clever techniques to repel generic competition: lawsuits that ensure delay of generic entry and threaten financial ruin for generic makers, next generation products (think Nexium) that are subtle variations of products losing protection, and authorized generics that effectively cut the market in half during the traditional period of exclusivity enjoyed by the first generic entrant.

Well, add to that list undercutting, since Merck is apparently exhibiting that classic oligopolistic behavior. The patent on the satin drug Zocor is running out, and Merck is pricing it at the lowest level possible. Meanwhile, the generic from Teva will be on the highest tier.

I wonder how a company with as few resources as Merck will be able to absorb this cost...