The tactic is brutally simple. A company that holds a patent on a brand-name drug, often a blockbuster that rakes in huge profits, pays a generic manufacturer to delay the sale of a competing product that might grab a big slice of the business. The patent holder makes so much money by delaying competition that it can easily afford to buy off the generic company, with the result that both companies share the wealth. The only losers are the consumers who must continue to pay high drug prices.