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GPhA: Next Generation of Generics Owe Savings to Pro-Consumer Patent Settlements

WASHINGTON, D.C. (JULY 29, 2011) – The Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) today issued the following statement on the forthcoming introduction of generic versions of several of the world’s best-selling medications.

“We are thrilled to see that the media has taken notice of the enormous savings the next generation of generic medicines is set to provide consumers and the U.S. health care system,” 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.”

“It is also important to recognize that many of these drugs — including the generic versions of Lipitor® and Plavix® — will become available later this year because of a pro-consumer patent settlement,” 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 U.S. health care system billions of dollars.”

GPhA maintains that the use of pro-consumer patent settlements is an essential tool for ensuring patients have timely access to safe, effective and equivalent generic medications. Patent settlements have never prevented competition beyond a patent’s expiration, and in many cases have resulted in making lower-cost generics available months and even years before patents have expired.

In fact, of the 23 new generic drug launches expected in 2011, settlements made 17 of these possible where the generic will launch prior to a patent’s expiration. That adds up to billions of dollars in savings at a time when lawmakers in Washington and across the country are looking for ways to reduce health care spending.

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.

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