Generics Put Pressure on Lipitor
Date Published: Monday, January 30th, 2012
With its patent now expired, cholesterol drug Lipitor is feeling some heat from its cheaper competitors.
Late last year, the patent expired on Lipitor, a blockbuster drug that lowers bad cholesterol. This meant that patients could now purchase a generic version. Lipitor, made by Pfizer Inc., cost around $2 a day, while generic versions costs just pennies a day.
Lipitor has had the run of the market since a 1996 study found that it was better at reducing LDL, (bad cholesterol), than the other statins from the beginning of treatment and also worked better over time.
This allowed Lipitor to become the best-selling prescription drug in the history of pharmaceuticals, producing around $12 billion in annual sales.
When the patent expired, Pfizer was allowed limited generic competition for six months with just two generic companies producing the medicine. However, after six months, the market will open up to other generic drugmakers, and the price of the drug is expected to drop significantly.
With hopes of keeping loyal Lipitor users, Pfizer is now offering consumers a $4 co-pay card to use for a month’s supply, resulting in a savings of $50. Insurance companies will continue to pay their same share of the drug’s costs.
Even that is unlikely to make much of a difference. Pfizer officials told the Columbus Dispatch they estimate that once all the generics are on the market, they’ll keep 5 percent of Lipitor customers.
This entry was posted on Monday, January 30th, 2012 at 7:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
Generics Put Pressure on Lipitor
Date Published: Monday, January 30th, 2012
With its patent now expired, cholesterol drug Lipitor is feeling some heat from its cheaper competitors.
Late last year, the patent expired on Lipitor, a blockbuster drug that lowers bad cholesterol. This meant that patients could now purchase a generic version. Lipitor, made by Pfizer Inc., cost around $2 a day, while generic versions costs just pennies a day.
Lipitor has had the run of the market since a 1996 study found that it was better at reducing LDL, (bad cholesterol), than the other statins from the beginning of treatment and also worked better over time.
This allowed Lipitor to become the best-selling prescription drug in the history of pharmaceuticals, producing around $12 billion in annual sales.
When the patent expired, Pfizer was allowed limited generic competition for six months with just two generic companies producing the medicine. However, after six months, the market will open up to other generic drugmakers, and the price of the drug is expected to drop significantly.
With hopes of keeping loyal Lipitor users, Pfizer is now offering consumers a $4 co-pay card to use for a month’s supply, resulting in a savings of $50. Insurance companies will continue to pay their same share of the drug’s costs.
Even that is unlikely to make much of a difference. Pfizer officials told the Columbus Dispatch they estimate that once all the generics are on the market, they’ll keep 5 percent of Lipitor customers.
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