To the Editor: Clarke and Fitzgerald showed that substantial savings could arise from the implementation of alternative pricing arrangements for off-patent statins that provide incentives to reduce prices and increase generic substitution.1 This is exemplified by comparing statin prices between Australia and England. Europe offers some more lessons with respect to savings based on generic medicine usage and how they can be attained.
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- Research Centre for Pharmaceutical Care and Pharmaco-economics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Correspondence: steven.simoens@pharm.kuleuven.be
- 1. Clarke PM, Fitzgerald EM. Expiry of patent protection on statins: effects on pharmaceutical expenditure in Australia. Med J Aust 2010; 192: 633-636. <MJA full text>
- 2. Simoens S, De Coster S. Potential savings from increased substitution of generic for originator medicines in Europe. J Generic Med 2006; 4: 43-45.
- 3. Simoens S. International comparison of generic medicine prices. Curr Med Res Opin 2007; 23: 2647-2654.
- 4. Dylst P, Simoens S. Generic medicine pricing policies in Europe: current status and impact. Pharmaceuticals 2010; 3: 471-481.
- 5. Dylst P, Simoens S. Does the market share of generic medicines influence the price level? A European analysis. Pharmacoeconomics 2010. In press.
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