Lipitor Goes Generic
Generic Lipitor – known as Atorvastatin
Lipitor, the top-selling drug of all time, has made Pfizer more than $81 billion in sales since launching in 1997, according to IMS Health. At its peak, more than 11 million Americans took it, says Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions, another health-care data firm. Yet once the drug’s patent runs out Nov. 30, most patients are expected to switch to less expensive generic versions.
Off-patent Lipitor should give Pfizer $3.8 billion in world-wide sales next year, estimates Credit Suisse analyst Catherine Arnold. That’s a far cry from the $13 billion that the drug made at its peak. Yet it would still be one of the company’s top five selling products.
During the 180 days, Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages the benefits for 60 million Americans, will send brand-name Lipitor at generic prices to the million-plus customers in its mail-order program. Another pharmacy benefit manager, Catalyst Rx, has told pharmacists that brand-name Lipitor will function as the generic during the six months, with a generic’s $10 co-pay and a price that could end up being $12.50 less than a generic would cost.
“We could expect not to have as extreme an attrition of the brand,” said David Simmons, who runs Pfizer’s established products business. “We’re still going to have a cliff, but we’re going to” still get significant revenue from Lipitor.
Lipitor goes generic
To stem the exodus, Pfizer has partnered with Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy in Flint, Mich., to mail Lipitor to patients who order the pills directly through the pharmacy. Diplomat would bill the patients’ health plans. Those that have contracted with Pfizer would pay about a generic price for Lipitor, while plans that didn’t would pay a higher price.
Source: wsj.com
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Tags: Atorvastatin, Generic Lipitor, Lipitor, Lipitor goes generic
