But she also spoke pointedly about whether generics are therapeutically equivalent to their branded counterparts.
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Meanwhile, makers of generics developed more efficient manufacturing processes and negotiated bulk discounts on raw materials.
By some estimates, generics account for more than 90% of the market for AIDS medications.
For their part, brand-name and generic drugmakers argue the deals actually hasten lower-cost generics to market.
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Every day that generics stay off the market, AstraZeneca gets millions of dollars in revenue.
Are there ways that, for example, we can get generics on the market quicker?
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And generics always seem to be cheaper than we project, because they are commodities.
The generics will sell at a higher price than if there were more competition.
The conventional wisdom is that it will be difficult to compete with cheap generics.
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The company ships active ingredients in bulk to generics heavies such as Teva and Ivax.
But should this narrowly differentiated improvement demand a big premium over other ADHD alternatives, especially generics?
The generics include integrity and honesty, as well as the above mentioned moral values.
Clarinex, the company's very similar follow-up antihistamine, may be hurt by all those cut-rate generics.
It added that branded generics represent the most significant growth opportunity in emerging markets.
Court decisions also meant that Toprol XL and Welbutrin XL fell prey to the generics.
Several produce and sell generics overseas--like Yusuf Hamied, who heads leading generics producer Cipla.
Indeed, Baldino believes he can get it onto the market before any generics break through.
My colleague Bob speculates that these payments cause doctors to prescribe costly branded drugs over generics.
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In the meantime, even patients who might otherwise be switched to generics might keep receiving Lipitor.
One thing that has been unexpected is the success of a generics-only prescription drug program.
As a result, over 40% of prescribed drugs in South Africa are now generics.
The riskiest tactic for generics makers is to try to invent their own drugs.
Only the month before GSK had acquired 16% of Aspen, a South African maker of generics.
He says he expects the branded generics to be squeezed on price while innovative drugs benefit.
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This will discourage generics from making buprenorphine, which will keep the price high, which will cause deaths.
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Most locally produced drugs are generics, and new patented drugs are mainly imported and thus more expensive.
Without big drug firms to push them, generics fall by the wayside--at least until we find them.
But that is done with generics already--no one has ever argued that only brand-name medications are safe.
Sun Pharmaceuticals has a joint venture with Merck to develop and market generics throughout the developing world.
That's why small-molecule generics are so much cheaper in America than they are in Canada and western Europe.
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