HealthDay News — The US Food and Drug Administration has taken new measures to increase the number of generic prescription drugs available to Americans.
The agency will now give priority reviews to new generic drugs until there are at least 3 on the market, according to an FDA news release. Data indicate that the most significant price reductions are seen when there are several generics available for a given drug.
The FDA also published its first list of brand name drugs that are no longer protected by a patent but don’t yet have generic competitors.
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“No patient should be priced out of the medicines they need, and as an agency dedicated to promoting public health, we must do our part to help patients get access to the treatments they require,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, said in a statement.
“Getting safe and effective generic products to market in an efficient way, being risk-based in our own work, and making sure our rules aren’t used to create obstacles to new competition can all help make sure that patients have access to more lower-cost options.”
Reference
FDA Tackles Drug Competition to Improve Patient Access [press release]. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration; June 27, 2017.
