Report Underscores How Competition Lowers Prescription Drug Prices by Providing
More Affordable Alternatives to High-Priced Brand Name Drugs





 



DOSE OF REALITY: GENERIC AND BIOSIMILAR COMPETITION GENERATES SIGNIFICANT
SAVINGS FOR PATIENTS AND THE U.S. HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

Report Underscores How Competition Lowers Prescription Drug Prices by
Providing More Affordable Alternatives to High-Priced Brand Name Drugs



According to a new report
<[link removed]> from the
Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM), in partnership with the IQVIA
Institute, generic and biosimilar medications saved American patients and the
U.S. health care system $467 billion in 2024 by reducing reliance on higher
priced brand name drugs. Savings over the last decade amounted to a staggering
$3.4 trillion. Last year, generic medications delivered $142 billion in savings
to Medicare and $62.1 billion to Medicaid.



Although brand name drugs make up just one in ten U.S. prescriptions filled,
they represent a staggering 88 percent of prescription drug expenditures. In
contrast, generic medicines account for nine in ten of all prescriptions filled
in the U.S. yet comprise only 12 percent of total prescription drug spending.
This stark imbalance underscores how pharmaceutical companies engage in
anticompetitive tactics to keep brand name drug prices high and maintain market
dominance.



Big Pharma deploys a full suite of tactics
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designed to game the U.S. patent system — enabling brand name drug companies
to extend monopolies over their biggest money-makers and block greater
competition from generics and biosimilars. The pharmaceutical industry’s
egregious abuse of the patent system is a root cause of high prescription drug
prices because it enables Big Pharma to repeatedly hike prices on existing
drugs, set out-of-control launch prices on new medications andblock competition
from more affordable alternatives
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.



A recent study
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published in JAMA Health Forum recently found lost competition due to Big
Pharma’s patent thickets on just four widely prescribed brand name drugs cost
patients, taxpayers and the U.S. health care system more than $3.5 billion over
two years due to lost competition.



Market-based solutions to foster greater generic and biosimilar competition by
cracking down on Big Pharma’s egregious patent abuse (likeS.1041
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The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act) have a demonstrated track
record of strong bipartisan support and should be swiftly passed by Congress to
boost competition and help lower prescription drug prices for patients.



Earlier this year, CSRxP released public opinion research
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, conducted by Fabrizio Ward, showing American voters overwhelmingly hold Big
Pharma responsible for high prescription drug prices and support market-based
solutions to lower prices by holding big drug companies accountable, including
for gaming the U.S. patent system to block competition.



The survey of 1,000 registered voters found:



* 82 Percent: The overwhelming majority of voters (82 percent) and Trump
voters (80 percent) support reforming patent laws to prevent drug companies
from abusing the system that extends their monopolies on drugs longer than
intended and halts lower cost generic drugs and biosimilars from the market.


* Nine-In-Ten: 89 percent of all voters reported they were concerned with
this statement: “Big Pharma has a long history of price-gouging American
patients through tactics designed to game the U.S. patent system and block
competition from more affordable alternatives, including patent thickets
comprised of hundreds of patents on their blockbuster drugs, effectively
preventing competitors from bringing lower-cost alternatives to market.”


Read the full 2025 savings report from the Association for Accessible
Medicines and the IQVIA InstituteHERE
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.



Read more on how biosimilar competition lowers prescription drug prices HERE
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Read more on bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable
HERE <[link removed]>.



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