The year 2006 maybe remembered as the year prescription drugs got a
whole lot cheaper for senior citizens. Not just because of the
Medicare prescription drug program but because of the flood of
lower-cost generic drugs coming on the market to replace high-priced
brand name drugs. "Never have so many branded drugs, with annual sales
of as much as $75 billion, lost their patents in so short a time,"
says the Los Angeles Times.
Generic drugs, including new anti-cholesterol and anti-depressants
drugs, could save U.S. consumers $24.7 billion this year alone,
according to a report in June by Express Scripts, one of the nation's
largest managers of pharmacy benefit plans. The biggest savings
available this year the company says are in the anti-cholesterol class
at $10.3 billion.

For many older people, who are on the front line of the fight against
high cholesterol, the introduction of generics for the statin drugs
Zocor and Pravachol, is expecially good news. This just leaves two
brand-name stations standing – Lipitor and Crestor – that may see
their customers switching to the much-less-expensive generic statins.

HealthPartners, the largest consumer-governed, non-profit health care
organization, projects that drug costs for treating high cholesterol
will decline by as much as $14 million annually with just the
introduction of the Zocor generic.

According to the research firm, IMS Health, statins accounted for $16
billion in U.S. sales in 2005. Zocor was the second most widely
prescribed statin with sales in 2005 of $3.1 billion.
A generic drug is identical, or bioequivalent to a brand name drug in
dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality,
performance characteristics and intended use," according to the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration.

"Although generic drugs are chemically identical to their branded
counterparts, they are typically sold at substantial discounts from
the branded price. According to the Congressional Budget Office,
generic drugs save consumers an estimated $8 to $10 billion a year at
retail pharmacies. Even more billions are saved when hospitals use
generics," the FDA says.

Several studies have also pointed out that the savings for senior
citizens on generic drugs in the Medicare prescription drug program
are gigantic.

Seniors in the Medicare program stand potentially to save at least $23
billion dollars over the next five years as 14 major brand-name drugs
commonly used by seniors are expected to become available in generic
form, according to a report in April by the Pharmaceutical Care
Management Association. If PCMA's analysis were expanded beyond the
top 100 drugs used by seniors, the savings would be even greater.

In 2007, seven drugs commonly used by seniors - Norvasc (heart
disease), Ambien (sleep disorder), Zyrtec (allergies), Lotrel (heart
disease), Coreg (hypertension), Lamisil (fungal infection), and Tequin
(antibiotic) -- are expected to go generic. PCMA estimates the
potential savings in 2007 alone at nearly $700 million and about $7
billion over the 2007-2010 period.

There are still heated discussions in Washington on making changes to
the Medicare drug program, including allowing Medicare to negotiate
with the drug-makers for better drug prices.

Senior citizens, however, can only look at that as just one more
gigantic reduction in the gigantic cost of drugs, because they are
already making big savings.

KaiserNet.org reports below on the Times' story and more on generic
drug news -

Generic Competition for Several Best-Selling Brand-Name Drugs Could
Result in Billions of Dollars in Savings for Consumers

Four of the 10 "best-selling" brand-name prescription drugs will lose
patent protection this year through 2010, and the competition from
generic versions of the medications could result in billions of
dollars in savings for consumers, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The anticholesterol medication Zocor, manufactured by Merck, and the
antidepressant Zoloft, manufactured by Pfizer, lost patent protection
last month.

In addition, the hypertension medication Norvasc, manufactured by
Pfizer, will lose patent protection next year, and the asthma
treatment Advair, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, will lose patent
protection in 2008.

According to the Times, "Never have so many branded drugs, with annual
sales of as much as $75 billion, lost their patents in so short a
time," and the "savings for consumers could be enormous."

Generic medications, which can cost as much as 80% less than the
brand-name versions, currently account for about half of prescription
drugs sold, compared with about one-fourth in 1986. Ron Fontanetta, a
health care specialist at Towers Perrin, said that generic medications
could account for more than 60% of the prescription drug market by the
end of next year.

According to pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, generic
medications will result in estimated savings of $24.7 billion this
year. The amount of savings that individual consumers will receive
depends on "how aggressively health plan and other care providers
steer patients to generics," the Times reports.

'Authorized Generics'
In response to increased competition from generic medications,
brand-name pharmaceutical companies have begun to manufacture or
license "authorized generics," which "are essentially the brand drug
in a different bottle," the Times reports.

According to the Times, consumer advocates maintain that the sale of
authorized generics "could stifle competition from generics," but
brand-name pharmaceutical companies maintain that they "are not trying
to undermine competition from generics" and that they are "spurring"
competition with the practice (Yi, Los Angeles Times, 7/15).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org You can view the
entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and
sign up for email delivery at
www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily
Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free
service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (c) 2006 Advisory
Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved."

Labels: No Prescription, Online Pharmacy, Prescription Drugs

# posted by Network @ 4:12 PM