On August 31, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its final report on the effect of authorized generic drugs (AGs) on competition in the prescription drug market.1 The August 2011 final report followed up on the FTC's 2009 interim report, which focused on the effects of authorized generics during the initial 180-day period of competition by a generic drug.

The FTC undertook these analyses at the request of Senators Chuck Grassley, Patrick Leahy, and John Rockefeller, as well as Representative Henry Waxman, who asked the commission to examine the competitive impact of authorized generics in the pharmaceutical industry over both the short term and the long term. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz (then a commissioner) also was an early proponent of the FTC examining the competitive effects of AGs.2