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Volume 357:1993-1996 November 15, 2007 Number 20 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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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 . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Source Information

Dr. Frank is a professor of health economics at Harvard Medical School, Boston.

An interview with Dr. Frank can be heard at www.nejm.org.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Gottlieb, S. (2008). Biosimilars: Policy, clinical, and regulatory considerations. Am J Health Syst Pharm 65: S2-S8 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Kesselheim, A. S., Choudhry, N. K. (2008). The International Pharmaceutical Market as a Source of Low-Cost Prescription Drugs for U.S. Patients. ANN INTERN MED 148: 614-619 [Abstract] [Full Text]