The Ongoing Regulation of Generic Drugs

Today, generic drugs account for 63% of all U.S. prescriptions for drugs (see Figure 1). Since generic drugs sell at substantially lower prices than their brand-name counterparts, they save consumers and purchasers of prescription drugs tens of billions of dollars per year. Moreover, their expanded role has been linked to an attenuation of overall price increases for prescription drugs. Between 2007 and 2010, roughly 110 drugs will lose their patent protection — including well-known products such as Norvasc (amlodipine), Imitrex (sumatriptan), Fosamax (alendronate), and Risperdal (risperidone). Estimates suggest that these 110 drugs are currently responsible for $50 billion a year in . . .