08 Jul 2004 Banning Generic Drugs?

David Almasi has a new paper published on the website, “Spurring Lower Prices: FDA Aided America’s Rx Drug Companies By Not Banning Authorized Generics.”

In it, he argues that the FDA was right to reject a request from generic drug manufacturers that research drug companies should not be permitted to market generic versions of their own drugs.

Concludes David:

Competitive forces have driven growth in the pharmaceutical industry by providing incentives for research-based pharmaceuticals to develop new and better drugs for the patients who need them and enabling generic drug makers to make more copies of those drugs available – sooner.

Just as the rise of generic drugs increased competition in the past, the emergence of “authorized generics” today is a way to deliver access to medicines more cost effectively.

Restricting authorized generics will only benefit generic drug makers intent on producing a copy they want to protect from competition. We should not allow generic companies to pick and choose what kind of competition in the marketplace is available to consumers. The market – not special interests – should be allowed to determine how much competition is “just right.”