This Just In: Kids Go Wild for Harry Potter and Increases in Drug Costs Outpace Inflation
From the gray panthers of the AARP by way of Bloomberg by way of PharmaGossip: Nothing new—just drug companies continue to make up for slowing prescriptions and less-than-promosing pipelines by jacking up the costs of their existing meds.
According to the AARP's latest "Rx Watchdog Report," increases in manufacturers' prices of 23 of the top 25 brand-name prescription products during 2007 outpaced the rate of inflation (2.9%) by as much as 25%. Pfizer appears to be one of the biggest offenders with 5.0% increases in the cost of its Lipitor (atorvastatin) products, an 8.7% increase in the cost of Celebrex (celecoxib) 200 mg, and 11.5% increases in the cost of Norvasc (amlodipine) tablets. However, the annual change in the cost of sanofi-aventis's Ambien (zolpidem tartrate), at 27.7%, outpaced that of Norvasc by more than more than 15 percentage points.
|
Sales Rank |
Product |
Manufacturer |
Change in WAC, % |
|
21 |
Zocor 20 mg |
Merck |
0.0 |
|
24 |
Zocor 40 mg |
Merck |
0.0 |
|
2 |
Plavix 75 mg |
BMS |
0.5 |
|
3 |
Prevacid 30 mg DR |
TAP |
5.0 |
|
5 |
Lipitor 20 mg |
Pfizer |
5.0 |
|
6 |
Lipitor 10 mg |
Pfizer |
5.0 |
|
11 |
Lipitor 40 mg |
Pfizer |
5.0 |
|
4 |
Protonix 40 mg |
Wyeth |
5.2 |
|
1 |
Nexium 40 mg |
AZ |
5.3 |
|
16 |
Singulair 10 mg |
Merck |
5.8 |
|
15 |
Namenda 10 mg |
|
5.9 |
|
8 |
Fosamax 70 mg |
Merck |
6.2 |
|
18 |
Zetia 10 mg |
Merck/SP |
6.5 |
|
19 |
Lexapro 10 mg |
|
6.9 |
|
7 |
Aricept 10 mg |
Eisai |
7.0 |
|
25 |
Avandia 4 mg |
GSK |
7.5 |
|
12 |
Actonel 35 mg |
P&G |
8.1 |
|
14 |
Celebrex 200 mg |
Pfizer |
8.7 |
|
10 |
Advair Diskus 250-50 |
GSK |
8.8 |
|
23 |
Seroquel 200 mg |
AZ |
9.1 |
|
20 |
Lantus 100/mL |
sanofi-aventis |
9.4 |
|
17 |
Flomax 0.4 mg |
BI |
11.2 |
|
9 |
Norvasc 10 mg |
Pfizer |
11.5 |
|
13 |
Norvasc 5 mg |
Pfizer |
11.5 |
|
22 |
Ambien 10 mg |
sanofi-aventis |
27.7 |
In fact, the cumulative percentage increase in the cost of Ambien, from 2002 to 2007, was nearly 160%. Less dramatic, but still impressive, cost increases during this time period were those for GSK's Advair Diskus (53.0%), Merck's Fosfamax (39.9%), Eisai's Aricept (37.1%), AstraZeneca's Nexium (33.0%), and Pfizer's Lipitor (32.2%).
P.S. Dumbledore is dead...and may have been gay.
WAC = wholesale acquisition cost.
