5 best-selling drugs coming off patent

Throughout 2011 and 2012, a wave of generic versions for several top-selling drugs will roll out as brand-name prescriptions go off patent.

According to the Associated Press, the magnitude of this wave of expiring drugs patents is unprecedented.
Sales for these drugs is more than $250 billion annually, and it's expected that generic competition will "decimate sales of the brand-name drugs and slash the cost to patients and companies that provide health benefits."

Generics will continue to come out throughout the next decade, as about 120 brand-name prescription drugs lose market exclusivity.

Here are 5 top-selling drugs coming off patent in the next two years:

Plavix:

• 2010 U.S. sales: $6.15 billion
• Condition: Anti-platelet
• Company: Bristol-Myers Squibb / Sanofi-Aventis
• Cost per month: Around $162 

The anti-clot or blood thinner is the most prescribed to prevent heart attack or stroke. It is the second-best selling drug in the world, according to www.dailyfinance.com, with $9.4 billion in global sales in 2010.

Lipitor:

• 2010 U.S. sales: $5.33 billion
• Condition: Cholesterol
• Company: Pfizer
• Cost per month: Up to $168

Released in 1998, Lipitor had reached peak sales of $12.9 billion by 2006, according to DailyFinance.com. The website also reports that between 2010 and 2012, drugs that make up 42 percent of Pfizer's pharmaceutical revenue will lose patent protection.

Seroquel:

• 2010 U.S. sales: $3.75 billion
• Condition: Antipsychotic
• Company: AstraZeneca
• Cost per month: Around $549

Introduced in 1997, Seroquel (also known as Quetiapine) was set to expire in September 2011, but received a six-month extension from the FDA through a pediatric exclusivity, according to DailyFinance.com. The website also reports medicines that generated 62 percent of the British pharmaceutical's 2009 revenue will face competition from lower-priced copies by 2014.

Actos:

• 2010 U.S. sales: $3.35 billion
• Condition: Type 2 diabetes
• Company: Takeda
• Cost per month: up to $241

Launched in 1999, the Japanese-manufactured drug expired in January. But, according to DailyFinance.com, Takeda came to an agreement with generic drugmakers Ranbaxy, Watson and Mylan, and they won't start marketing Actos until August 2012. Sandoz, Teva and a few others will enter the market 180 days later.

Enbrel:

• 2010 U.S. sales: $3.3 billion
• Condition: Arthritis
• Company: Amgen
• Cost per month: up to $2,784

Because Enbrel belongs to a class of medications called tumor necrosis factor or TNF-alpha inhibitors, it may be harder to duplicate. The FDA is making the process easier for the entry of generic biologics into the market, according to DailyFinance.com, but the process is just beginning.
"Both [the generic and brand-name pharmaceutical] industries are increasing their emphasis on biologic drugs, which are harder to replicate, but were recently given a 12 year limit on patent protection via the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,"  pharmaceutical analyst Sophia Snyder at research firm IBISWorld tells DailyFinance. "The brand name industry sees a lot of potential revenue here, and the generic industry is already increasing their R&D investment to find ways to create biosimilars."

Source:  www.benefitspro.com