Is the Age of the Blockbuster Over?

For pharmaceutical companies, the 90's and early 2000's were the age of the blockbuster drug. Pharmaceutical companies developed drugs that could be used by huge patient populations and could rake in revenue from their respective drug patents. According to the New York Times, it is no secret that these patents are beginning to expire; but what is alarming for the industry is that there isn't much in the pipeline to replace them.

As patents begin to expire, major pharmaceutical companies will see significant erosion to their revenues from competition of generic brands. Add to this problem the lack of new drug discoveries, pressure from the government to lower drug prices and a series of heavy fines against pharmaceutical companies. This perfect storm of factors spells trouble for the pharmaceutical industry.

Why do you think drug innovation has slowed? Should the government still be  putting pressure on industry giants to lower their prices? Does pressure on price discourage innovation?

What strategy would work best moving forward? : focusing on branded generics, acquiring companies with near market ready drugs or concentrating only on health areas of need?

Obviously this article has a number of business, health and policy implications. It would be great to explore all of the different angles so feel free to comment.