7 Blockbusters’ Patents Expire Soon – Drug Prices Will Plummet For Millions Of People.

7 Blockbusters’ Patents Expire Soon – Drug Prices Will Plummet For Millions Of People

26 Jul 2011

By the end of next year, 7 of the 20 top selling medications will lose their patent protection, making way for much cheaper generic versions. This is a godsend for patients, and a serious concern for the pharmaceutical industry which depends so much on high incomes for research and development.

It won’t be long before super-blockbusters Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering drug, and blood thinner Plavix lose their patent protection. Lipitor in the USA alone is taken by 4.3 million patients, and Plavix by 1.4 million.

Lipitor is the world’s top selling medication. It will lose its patent in November this year.

Antipsychotic drug Zyprexa loses its patent in October 2011. Plavix’s goes in May next year. Psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis drug, Enbrel will give way to generics in October 2012.

It is estimated that $225 billions’ worth of annual global sales of drugs will go off patent by the end of 2015.

Generics will be entering several medical areas in a big way, including treatments for HIV, depression, diabetes, asthma, bipolar disorder, hypertension and high triglycerides.

Over the next decade approximately 120 brand names will no longer dominate the market, experts say.

Patients, taxpayers, businesses and health insurance companies will save billions. A generic drug can cost up to 80% less than the brand name version.

US health experts say that a significant number of people who cannot currently afford to pay for their medications, will soon be able to do so. The USA is one of the most expensive countries in the world for prescription medications.

In America today, many people even with private health insurance or Medicare cover are not getting their prescriptions because they simply do not have the money.

Studies have shown that generic drugs are just as good as the brand name ones, says the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). As long as the active ingredient is the same, the medication is just as effective. Some argue that generic versions have uneven safety records. However, studies have shown that brand named drugs have the same risk of contamination due to some bad manufacturing practice, or another reason.

Some experts have dispute this, however. A study performed by scientists at Johns Hopkins University and published in Annals of Neurology found that switching to an anti-epilepsy generic version of a drug carried with it a 10% risk that peak concentrations in the body occurred at different times.

Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/231690.php