Access and Affordability

Prescription medicines improve and save people's lives every day. Discovery of new medicines has turned many deadly diseases into manageable conditions, and helps patients who suffer from chronic diseases live healthier, more productive lives. In addition, adherence to prescribed medicationshas been shown to help reduce overall healthcare costs by keeping people out of the hospital.

In the U.S., people gain access to medicines primarily through private health coverage, including employer-sponsored insurance, and government programs such as the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Part D). For financially struggling, uninsured Americans, help is available through the through the Partnership for Prescription Assistance(see information below in Resources).

Today, spending growth on prescription drugs in the U.S. remains historically low. According to IMS Health, for the past five years, spending on prescription medicines increased an average of just 3.3%, and by 0.5% when taking overall inflation and population growth into account. One reason for this trend is a broad increase in the use of generic drugs. In fact, generics currently account for 80 percent of all prescriptions filled in America.

This dynamic is a reflection of the unique marketplace for prescription drugs in the U.S. Unlike other sectors in the U.S. healthcare system, the framework for prescription drugs is a delicate balance of innovation and affordability. This balance, often referred to as the prescription drug lifecycle, produces long-term savings as a result of the initial investments and research by innovator companies.

Generic drugs represent the final stage of the life cycle. Prior to the introduction of a generic to the market, an innovator biopharmaceutical research company has taken a brand-name medicine through the long journey from idea to discovery, early-stage R&D to clinical trials, and regulatory review to patients. Here are a few related facts about the prescription drug lifecycle.

Medicines – brand-name and generic – are a critical part of the solution to our health care challenges, leading to better health outcomes and savings to the system.

Resources

Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA)
Biopharmaceutical companies recognize not everyone has access to the medicines they need. That is why they offer assistance to financially struggling, uninsured Americans through the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA).

Since its launch in April 2005, PPA has helped connect millions of people to patient assistance programs that may meet their needs. The program brings together pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, patient advocacy organizations and community groups to help qualifying patients access programs that provide free or low-cost medicines. PPA, which is designed to increase awareness of and boost enrollment in patient assistance, offers a single point of access to more than 475 public and private programs.

IMS Health Report: Cost Savings in Medicare Part D: The Prescription Drug Lifecycle
Examining prescription drug use in Medicare Part D enrollees, researchers from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics explain how “cost savings attributable to generic use represent one stage of the prescription drug lifecycle, where savings are the ultimate result of long-term expensive investments by innovator companies.”

Generic Entry and Price Competition in the Biopharmaceuticals Market
The U.S. health care system is designed to promote both continued medical advances and cost savings. Brand-name biopharmaceutical research companies are a driving force behind these medical advances. Reports that focus only on brand-name medicines exaggerate drug price trends and miss the point that cheap, broadly used generics are possible only because they originated as a brand-name medicine.