HCP Faculty members, Haiden Huskamp, PhD; Alisa Busch, MD, MS; and Sharon-Lise Normand, PhD published the article, “Antidepressant Reformulations: Who Uses Them, And What Are the Benefits?” in Health Affairs’ May/June issue. These researchers investigated the effectiveness of reformulations of existing medications. The Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984 permits pharmaceutical manufacturers to obtain extra market exclusivity if they create reformulations.  Reformulations of antidepressants are particularly common and were the focus of this study. In their publication, Huskamp et al. discuss that “critics of the pharmaceutical industry assert that manufacturers devote too many resources to developing ‘me-too’ drugs and reformulations that are of limited value to society rather than to developing breakthrough drugs.  In contrast, others argue that reformulations represent advances in safety or efficacy and result in increased patient compliance.”  To find out their conclusions about the magnitude of the benefits of using reformulations and how the benefits may compare to the higher costs of these drugs, please read the article for yourself.