Media

Press Release

GPhA: Launch of Generic Lipitor® Confirms Value of Competition In Delivering Savings and Lowering Health Care Spending

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NOV. 30, 2011) – The Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) today lauded the launch of a generic version of Lipitor® as an example of the critical role generic competition plays in reducing health care costs for consumers and patients across the country.

“Beginning today, millions of Americans who take this important medication can have their next Lipitor® prescription filled with the less-costly generic version,” said Ralph G. Neas, President and CEO of GPhA. “I can think of no better example to highlight what a remarkable success the generic pharmaceutical industry has been in providing access to safe and effective medicines while at the same time saving hundreds of millions of dollars for consumers and lowering our country’s prescription drug bill.”

According to a recent study from IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics and IMS Health, the use of generic medications in place of their brand counterparts has saved consumers and the American health care system $931 billion over the last 10 years. In 2010 alone, generics saved $158 billion — a savings of more than $3 billion every week.

Neas also noted that the launch of generic Lipitor® this week was made possible as the result of generic companies “going to bat” for consumers by challenging the patents covering Lipitor®, which ended in a settlement of the patent litigation. “It shouldn’t be lost in all the news about generic Lipitor® that the product is coming to market in 2011 and not 2012 or even later because of a pro-competitive, pro-consumer settlement, the same kind of settlement the Federal Trade Commission is lobbying Congress to restrict,” Neas said.

“The generic approval process as established by Congress more than two decades ago is working as designed — brand companies innovate new drugs and enjoy approximately a dozen years of market exclusivity to recoup development costs and profit from their inventions, and then generics enter the market and inject the competition needed to drive down prices for consumers and payers,” Neas added.

“The value that increased competition has played in providing access to lower-cost traditional drugs underscores the importance of ensuring a similar workable approval pathway for biogeneric products,” Neas said. Biologics provide the most promising treatments for life-threatening diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis, but the high prices for biologics keeps these medicines out of reach for many patients. “As the FDA begins implementing regulations enabling approval of biogenerics, it must avoid unwarranted requirements that would act only as obstacles to the timely approval of more affordable generic biologic medicines,” Neas added.

GPhA represents the manufacturers and distributors of finished generic pharmaceuticals, manufacturers and distributors of bulk pharmaceutical chemicals, and suppliers of other goods and services to the generic industry. Generic pharmaceuticals fill 78 percent of the prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. but consume just 25 percent of the total drug spending. Additional information is available at gphaonline.org.

– 30 –

• More press releases
• Other resources in Authorized generics