But that is done with generics already--no one has ever argued that only brand-name medications are safe.
One problem with generics may be resistance from Russian doctors.
This will put Merck in direct competition both with generics firms, such as Teva of Israel, and with biotech giants, such as Amgen, which make the expensive products that biosimilars hope to replace.
The conventional wisdom is that it will be difficult to compete with cheap generics.
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The most striking deals have involved Pfizer, a conservative giant not known for cosiness with upstart generics firms.
In September 2006, Solvay settled the patent litigation with the defendants, entering into business promotional agreements with both generics.
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To enter the U.K. and European markets the Muktadirs have forged marketing partnerships with local generics firms, notably Intrapharm Laboratories and Blackrock Pharmaceuticals.
As a result, manufacturers expect they will have to do more than sell the therapies based on price, as companies do with traditional generics.
But many people may be in a celebratory mood this holiday season in Canada, as Pzifer, maker of Viagra, announced this week an immediate price cut of close to 25% to better compete with coming generics.
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Founded and runs Sun Pharmaceuticals, maker of branded generics with factories in India, Europe and U.S. Investing in drug discovery.
If past experiences with the advent of generics is any guide, it will probably take some time for pharmacy shelves to fill with atorvastatin and for most patients to get on the generic.
Teva the largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world, marketing about 400 generic medications and 50 brand-name drugs, with approximately 180 new generics awaiting FDA approval.
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But some plans require patients to take less-expensive generic versions of cholesterol drugs except in special circumstances, and many states require pharmacies to fill prescriptions with lower-priced generics.
Indian generics companies, with their USFDA-approved plants and low-cost structure, look attractive.
The whole controversy arises from the Hatch-Waxman Act, a 1984 law in which Congress cleverly shoved the question of whether generics could compete with entrenched patentholders in front of the courts.
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Sun Pharmaceuticals has a joint venture with Merck to develop and market generics throughout the developing world.
With no expertise running an Indian generics drug company, let alone one that had been family controlled up to that point, DaiichiSankyo was blindsided by the troubles.
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Like some peers, it faces a patent cliff with very profitable drugs facing competition from generics, but Lilly spends aggressively to develop replacements.
In May it said it was entering licensing deals with Claris LifeSciences and Aurobindo, both Indian generics firms.
In turn, it can squeeze suppliers of generics--it has less clout with branded drugs, which have no competition--to service the likes of Kmart, Walgreens and CVS. The cost of money has dropped, too.
After this week's deal, some 15% of Novartis's revenues will come from generics but profits from that segment could be slender compared with those from blockbusters.
As such, by acquiring Warner Chilcott, Actavis has voted with its feet and enhanced its own ambitions of diversification away from the generics market.
Last year Alliance UniChem, which had a generics and wholesale business and 1, 300 pharmacy stores, merged with Boots.
Alpharma, Generics UK and Norton Healthcare all received money not to enter the market with their copies of Seroxat, it said.
As countries with weak intellectual-property laws tighten them up (India did this year), their generics firms will join the world market, too.
To encourage generics makers to challenge patents on drugs, and introduce cheaper copies, an American law passed in 1984 says that the first one to do so will get a 180-day exclusivity period, in which no other generics maker can sell versions of the drug in question, as Ranbaxy supposedly won with Lipitor.
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