Prescription-Drug Sales Growth Is Expected to Slow
Several reasons exist for this headline. First, doctors are prescribing generics more. We also are fans of the Wal-Mart $4 list. Our family practice residents all know the list. This greatly influences their prescription habits. When we heard that carvedilol had gone generic, the first question was whether or not it had made the Wal-Mart list. It has!
The second big factor is that many major expensive drug classes now have generic options. Many big selling drugs have gone or are soon going generic.
Several factors are contributing to the slowdown. For one, many of the industry’s top-selling branded drugs are losing patent protection, giving cost-conscious insurers the opportunity to use cheaper generics. IMS forecasts that about two-thirds of prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. next year will be generics, up from 50% in 2003.
Drug companies, meanwhile, aren’t churning out enough new medicines to keep dollar sales growing at the same pace. And regulators such as the Food and Drug Administration, burned by several drug-safety scandals, are casting a tougher eye on new products before allowing them on the market.
Very interesting and good news for patients.
Drugs with $20 billion in annual global sales could lose patent protection next year, becoming the latest blockbuster drugs launched in the 1990s to meet generic competition. Because so many generics are coming to market, the cost of treating patients for cholesterol, depression, osteoporosis and other illnesses is falling sharply, IMS reports.
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November 1st, 2007 / 1:44 pm
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