A slew of new low-cost generic drugs coming to the U.S. and other wealthy countries, along with slower increases in spending on brand-name drugs, will significantly slow growth in worldwide spending on drugs over the next four years.
That good news for patients comes from a new forecast from IMS Health, which collects and analyzes data on pharmaceutical sales around the world.
It says worldwide spending on medicines will hit about $1 trillion in 2016.
Between now and then, the pharmaceutical industry will sharply boost its sales in emerging markets including China, India and Russia, where it sells almost nothing but generics.
U.S. drug spending will grow at "historically low levels" and will account for about 31 percent of global drug sales, down from 41 percent in 2006.
