Generic drugs saved US $1 trillion in 10 years

Hannah Blake

pharmaphorum

In 2011, the use of generic prescription drugs in the US attributed to a saving of US $192.8 billion – which equates to around one billion dollars every other day.

These incredible facts come from a newly released report by the Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA), conducted by the research division of IMS Health. The report was conducted over the past ten years, from 2002 to 2011, and found that consumers and the US healthcare system have together saved more than US $1 trillion.

This is because nearly 80% of the 4 billion prescriptions written in the US last year were dispensed using safe and effective generic versions of brand name counterpart drugs.

"The remarkable findings demonstrated in this report are a testament not only to the generic industry's tremendous accomplishments over the past decade, but to the even greater achievements that are still to come. The Generic Drug Savings study shows conclusively that, as Congress and the White House gear up for the fiscal challenges facing them in the coming year, generic and biosimilar utilization are the best places to go for the 'offsets' that everyone will be desperately seeking. The sustainability of the health care system and the national economy depend in significant measure on the availability of affordable medicines."

Ralph G. Neas, President and CEO of GPhA.