Prices have soared from some popular brand-name drugs widely used by older men and women – medications whose patents are close to expiring. Why? Manufacturers tend to hike the prices of those drugs in the year or so before they lose their exclusive marketing rights, according to two new reports. But the silver lining for consumers is that an unprecedented number of top brand-name prescription drugs are due to lose patent protection in the next couple of years – opening the way for generic versions that cost far less. Blockbuster drugs scheduled to go off patent this year include Lipitor (used for high cholesterol) and Xalatan (glaucoma). In 2012 patents set to expire include those for Clarinex (allergies) and Avandia (diabetes). An analysis published in the AARP Rx Price Watch Report finds that cumulatively “the retail price of brand-name drugs that have faced generic competition in 2010 rose by 51 percent…between the end of 2004 and the end of 2009,” which equals an average hike of $762 for one year of therapy between those two dates. “Much of this increase took place in the two years” before lower-cost generic versions appeared on the market, the report adds. Buttressing these findings is a new analysis of prices for the 15 best-selling drugs by Thomson Reuters MarketScan, which found much higher price hikes in 2010 than in earlier years. “The analysis indicates drug makers are scrambling to make as much money as possible from blockbuster drugs before their patents expire, “Reuters reports.
By Patricia Barry for AARP Bulletin