Generics will drive Australia's PBS saving in 2012, says GMiA

Australian patients and taxpayers need to make the most of the unprecedented value of medicines coming off patent in 2012 - leading to a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars in savings to the economy, according to the peak generic medicines body, says the country’s Generic Medicines Industry Association (GMiA).

The trade body’s chairman, Martin Cross, says Australia should look to developed countries such as the USA and UK, as both depend heavily upon the more cost effective, high quality generic medicines to create savings to the patient and drive savings to the countries’ respective health budgets.

In the USA, 78% of all medicines dispensed are generic follow-on medicines. This is mainly due to patients being highly sensitive to the cost of medicines. By comparison, in Australia patients accessed follow-on generic medicines only 36% of the time, noted the GMiA, which is proposing initiatives to the government to encourage uptake of generic drugs by, for example, by reducing the A$5.80 charge pensioners pay when they purchase generic medicines under the PBS to encourage them to switch to the cheaper drugs, which could save as much as A$500 million a year.