Generic medicines to enter US$ 326 million market
Valor Econômico 01/29/2009
An extensive survey carried out by Pró-Genéricos, the entity that gathers the generic medicine manufacturers in Brazil, shows that, in the next three years, the patents of 17 medicines, which currently sell at least R$ 750 million (US$ 326 million), will expire in the country. When the patent expires, the brand medicines have a great part of the sales affected by the competition from the generic ones, which are equivalent to them, yet cheaper. Most of the patents will expire in 2010, when 12 drugs will loose their protection. In the list compiled by Pró-Genéricos, obtained with exclusivity by Valor, are well-known medicines like Lipitor, the world best selling medicine, used for control of the levels of cholesterol; Viagra, the famous blue pill against sexual impotence; antihypertensive Diovan, one of the medicines that sell the most in the country, and antipsychotic Zyprexa, a medicine with great sales to the Government. Those brands belong to large multinational pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, Novartis and Eli Lilly. They are what the generic medicine laboratories are waiting for. Even before the expiration of the patent protection, which lasts 20 years, manufacturers are already prepared to launch generic versions into the market. As soon as the exclusivity obtained with the intellectual protection falls, the generic drug goes into the market. And the prices tend to fall.