Next generation generics owe savings to patent settlements, claims USA's GPhA

Commenting on the recent media attention to the huge savings that the next generation of generic medicines will have on the US health care system, Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) executive director Bob Billings said: “GPhA has long maintained that the greater use of generic medications is an integral part of the solution in reducing our country’s health care costs, and the savings generated by generic versions of these well-known drugs is further proof of that.”

He pointed out that it is also important to recognize that many of these drugs - including the generic versions of mega blockbusters such as Pfizer’s Lipitor (atorvastatin) and Sanofi’s Plavix (clopidogrel) - will become available later this year because of a pro-consumer patent settlement, also referred to as pay-for-delay deals. Mr Billings added: “If such agreements were outlawed, patients could be forced to wait at least an additional five years for access to either of these lifesaving medications, a delay that would cost consumers and the US health care system billions of dollars.”

Settlements have never prevented competition beyond patent life