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Generic Medicines: Solutions for a Sustainable Drug Market?

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Abstract

Generic medicines offer equally high-quality treatment as originator medicines do at much lower prices. As such, they represent a considerable opportunity for authorities to obtain substantial savings. At the moment, the pharmaceutical landscape is changing and many pharmaceutical companies have altered their development and commercial strategies, combining both originator and generic divisions. In spite of this, the generic medicines industry is currently facing a number of challenges: delayed market access; the limited price differential with originator medicines; the continuous downwards pressure on prices; and the negative perception regarding generic medicines held by some key stakeholder groups. This could jeopardize the long-term sustainability of the generic manufacturing industry. Therefore, governments must focus on demand-side policies, alongside policies to accelerate market access, as the generic medicines industry will only be able to deliver competitive and sustainable prices if they are ensured a high volume. In the future, the generic medicines industry will increasingly look to biosimilars and generic versions of orphan drugs to expand their business.

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Acknowledgments

Steven Simoens holds the European Generic Medicines Association (EGA) Chair “European policy towards generic medicines”. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this manuscript. No funding was received for the preparation of this article.

Author contributions

The idea of the paper was developed by Steven Simoens and Pieter Dylst. The manuscript was prepared by Pieter Dylst. Steven Simoens, Brian Godman, and Arnold Vulto contributed to this paper by reviewing the manuscript and adding suggestions to improve the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium Herestraat 49, O&N 2, P.O. Box 521, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Pieter Dylst & Steven Simoens

  2. Hospital Pharmacy, Erasmus University Medical Center, Gravendijkwal 230, 3015 CE, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Arnold Vulto

  3. Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska Instutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, 141 86, Stockholm, Sweden

    Brian Godman

  4. Liverpool Health Economics Centre, Liverpool University, Chatham Street, Liverpool, UK

    Brian Godman

  5. Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Brian Godman

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  1. Pieter Dylst
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  2. Arnold Vulto
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  4. Steven Simoens
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Correspondence to Pieter Dylst.

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Dylst, P., Vulto, A., Godman, B. et al. Generic Medicines: Solutions for a Sustainable Drug Market?. Appl Health Econ Health Policy 11, 437–443 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-013-0043-z

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