Why Competition Hasn’t Brought Down The High Price Of Snakebite Treatment

The antivenin market for treating bites from rattlesnakes and other pit vipers might be considered a case study of why drugs prices are so high. Head-to-head competition between brand-name medicines may not meaningfully reduce prices.

The snakebite antivenin CroFab, on the U.S. market since 2000, now faces competition from a drug called Anavip. But both are expensive. “Perverse incentives” keep prices high, says one legal scholar.

(Image credit: Tais Policanti/Getty Images)

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