Namibia : Billions in Savings Likely With Use of Generic Drugs

Worldwide, consumers could save billions of dollars in prescription drug costs in the next few years as an unprecedented wave of expensive brand-name medications come off patent, facing competition from far-cheaper generic versions. The savings for consumers could be enormous. Unlike doctor care, which is expensive but paid mostly by health insurance, patients pay a relatively higher share of prescription drug costs out of their own pockets. Generics can cost as much as 80 percent less than their branded versions.

Benjamin Khumalo, a pharmacy manager at Rhino Park Pharmacy, told the Economist this week that generic drugs are similar in quality to original drugs. "Calling them generics is more to do with patents. These are manufactured after a patent expires, are 100% the same drugs and work just the same as brand drugs," said Khumalo. He underlined the fact that generic drugs are cheap and could reduce the costs of private sector health care, thereby making this accessible to people who traditionally have no access to private specialist medical practitioners. "These drugs make health care affordable," said Khumalo.

Khumalo said switching to generic medication would complement efforts by the Namibian government in controlling prices of prescription drugs. Through the Maximum Price List, the government has been able to maintain uniformity of pricing in all pharmacies around the country. "The prices are all the same. What is different is how these different pharmacies handle their customers," said Khumalo. Generic drugs have been around for decades, and research shows that their share of prescriptions filled has grown steadily over the years, accounting for just over 50 percent of all prescription drugs sold today versus 25% two decades ago.

The upcoming surge of generics stems from an innovation boom in the early 1990s, when giant drug companies such as Merck & Co. and Pfizer Inc. launched a series of blockbuster drugs. By law, patents last about 20 years, but companies spend many of those years testing and getting government approvals for their new drugs. The creators are typically left with between 12 and 14 years of exclusive rights to sell the drugs, usually at high prices, to recoup the enormous costs in inventing and developing the treatments. Many of those patents from the 1990s innovation wave are now beginning to expire.

Source:http://allafrica.com/stories/200607210935.html