The generic drug blitz set to take place over the next 14 months is expected to significantly lower the cost of prescription medication as drug patents expire, the Associated Press reports. The release will bring seven of the world’s best-selling drugs onto the market in generic forms, including Lipitor and Plavix.
According to the AP, the prescription drugs whose patents are about to expire accumulate roughly $255 billion in annual global sales. When generic brands go on sale, costs will plummet and the drugs will become more widely available to patients and health care companies, London-based research firm EvaluatePharma Ltd. said.
The cholesterol fighting Lipitor is taken by about 4.3 million Americans, the AP said. Plavix, a blood thinner, is prescribed to 1.4 million. Other drugs taken by millions include those that treat for blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, depression, high triglycerides, HIV and bipolar disorder. These are set to come by September 2012, the AP said.
Over the next decade, about 120 more brand-name prescription drugs will lose their monopoly as well, Medco Health Solutions said. The blitz of generic drugs will continue, and out-of-pocket costs for patients will decrease.
This change in market-exclusive status will affect a large portion of the population, Joel Owerbach of the Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield said.
“My estimation is at least 15 percent of the population is currently using one of the drugs whose patents will expire in 2011 or 2012,” Owerbach told the AP.
Doctors are optimistic that these lowered prices will allow people who can’t currently afford needed medication to improve their health.
