Pfizer tries to protect Lipitor from generics
AP report:
Pfizer has devised discounts and incentives for patients, insurers and companies that process prescriptions that will, at least for the next six months, make the brand name drug about as cheap as or cheaper than the generics. Pfizer also has spent tens of millions of dollars this year on marketing to keep patients on Lipitor, which loses patent protection Wednesday.
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Typically, brand-name drugs get one or two generic competitors initially, priced about 25 percent lower. Six months later, other generic companies are allowed to jump in and the price drops up to 80 percent.
About 90 percent of the branded drug’s sales ultimately vanish, as insured patients seeking a lower copayment switch over and most pharmacies automatically substitute a generic for a brand name.
I’m not really sure how I feel about this. Potentially an anti-competitive move, but either way ends up for lower prices (Merck did a similar thing with Zocor in 2006). Merrill Goozner wrote a piece for The Fiscal Times about this move from a financial perspective.