Islander
03-20-09, 04:57 PM
Thu Mar 19, 2009
By Ransdell Pierson
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sales of prescription drugs in the United States rose an anemic 1.3 percent in 2008 to $291 billion in a continuing slowdown, as patients opted for cheaper generic versions or chose to go without treatment due to the economic downturn.
In previous years, U.S. prescription drug sales rose 3.8 percent in 2007 and about 8 percent in 2006 -- those years themselves reflecting a slowdown from annual double-digit percentage sales growth often seen in earlier decades.
The worrisome snapshot comes from information supplied by IMS Health Inc, which compiles market data on the pharmaceutical industry.
"Dispensed prescription volume in the United States grew at a 0.9 percent pace" in 2008, IMS said. That compares with dispensed volume growth of 2.8 percent in 2007 and 4.6 percent growth in 2006, reflected in prior IMS reports.
IMS, which has predicted U.S. prescription drug sales would grow 1 to 2 percent in 2009, did not include any updated sales forecasts in its media advisory.
Lipid medicines -- those that lower "bad" LDL cholesterol and blood fats called triglycerides, or which raise "good" HDL cholesterol -- were the most widely dispensed U.S. retail prescription drugs on a volume basis in 2008, IMS said.
They were followed by codeine and drugs containing the narcotic painkiller, anti-depressants, and two types of blood pressure drugs called ACE inhibitors and beta blockers.
"In terms of overall prescription sales through both retail and non-retail channels, antipsychotics led all therapy classes," IMS said, followed by lipid regulators, a leading class of ulcer drugs called proton pump inhibitors and anti-seizure medicines.
Even as sales growth slowed in the United States, three large U.S. drugmakers are girding for patent expirations in 2011 on their biggest medicines, which will leave them prey to competition from cheaper copycats.
They include Pfizer Inc and its $12 billion-a-year Lipitor cholesterol fighter, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and its Plavix blood clot preventer and Eli Lilly & Co's and its Zyprexa schizophrenia treatment.
Some industry analysts have expressed concern that U.S. sales of prescription drugs could come under even greater pressure if Congress and the Obama Administration require drugmakers to negotiate prices of their branded products.
The United States is the only major industrialized country that does not have price regulations on prescription drugs, a reason the U.S. is the world's most lucrative market for medicines.
The American Stock Exchange Pharmaceutical Index of large U.S. and European drugmakers was down 2.9 percent at midday.
(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; editing by Gunna Dickson)
By Ransdell Pierson
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sales of prescription drugs in the United States rose an anemic 1.3 percent in 2008 to $291 billion in a continuing slowdown, as patients opted for cheaper generic versions or chose to go without treatment due to the economic downturn.
In previous years, U.S. prescription drug sales rose 3.8 percent in 2007 and about 8 percent in 2006 -- those years themselves reflecting a slowdown from annual double-digit percentage sales growth often seen in earlier decades.
The worrisome snapshot comes from information supplied by IMS Health Inc, which compiles market data on the pharmaceutical industry.
"Dispensed prescription volume in the United States grew at a 0.9 percent pace" in 2008, IMS said. That compares with dispensed volume growth of 2.8 percent in 2007 and 4.6 percent growth in 2006, reflected in prior IMS reports.
IMS, which has predicted U.S. prescription drug sales would grow 1 to 2 percent in 2009, did not include any updated sales forecasts in its media advisory.
Lipid medicines -- those that lower "bad" LDL cholesterol and blood fats called triglycerides, or which raise "good" HDL cholesterol -- were the most widely dispensed U.S. retail prescription drugs on a volume basis in 2008, IMS said.
They were followed by codeine and drugs containing the narcotic painkiller, anti-depressants, and two types of blood pressure drugs called ACE inhibitors and beta blockers.
"In terms of overall prescription sales through both retail and non-retail channels, antipsychotics led all therapy classes," IMS said, followed by lipid regulators, a leading class of ulcer drugs called proton pump inhibitors and anti-seizure medicines.
Even as sales growth slowed in the United States, three large U.S. drugmakers are girding for patent expirations in 2011 on their biggest medicines, which will leave them prey to competition from cheaper copycats.
They include Pfizer Inc and its $12 billion-a-year Lipitor cholesterol fighter, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and its Plavix blood clot preventer and Eli Lilly & Co's and its Zyprexa schizophrenia treatment.
Some industry analysts have expressed concern that U.S. sales of prescription drugs could come under even greater pressure if Congress and the Obama Administration require drugmakers to negotiate prices of their branded products.
The United States is the only major industrialized country that does not have price regulations on prescription drugs, a reason the U.S. is the world's most lucrative market for medicines.
The American Stock Exchange Pharmaceutical Index of large U.S. and European drugmakers was down 2.9 percent at midday.
(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; editing by Gunna Dickson)