Since the arrival of the first equivalent in May 2012 following the expiry of the patent.
England's NHS saved more than £350m in the first 12 months after the patent on Pfizer's drug Lipitor (atorvastatin) expired last year.
This is the estimate of the British Generic Manufacturers Association (Bgma), which represents over 90% of UK supplier companies. 'Saved', therefore, around a million pounds a day thanks to the equivalent of the anti-cholesterol blockbuster. Since the launch of the first generic of atorvastatin in May 2012, which kicked off the competition in the market, the price of the product has dropped by more than 85%.
This has ensured huge savings for the NHS at a time when budgets are constrained and society is faced with the health needs of an aging population increasingly benefiting from statins. Kim Innes, chairman of Bgma, said: "The example of atorvastatin and the impact it has had in the first 12 months since the molecule went off patent demonstrates the value of the generics market in the UK. The key role of generics is precisely to make medicines more affordable for the NHS, allowing resources to be spent elsewhere, such as on innovative medicines.
Furthermore, generics, which are manufactured to the same safety, quality and efficacy standards as originators, stimulate innovation through competition which further 'instigates' the discovery and development of new medicines."
Barbara Di Chiara – May 16, 2013 – PharmaKronos
Ed.: unfortunately the facts show us that generics do not stimulate innovation and the search for new drugs at all. Indeed, at the moment the "stimulation" takes place in the opposite direction. Research is not convenient, instead it is better to focus on generics where the costs are very low
