The prescription drug market in the U.S. heavily relies on competition to keep prices reasonable. Although many policies are implemented to spur competition and decrease patients’ costs, these policies may be outdated and should be redesigned and updated to achieve success in the current prescription drug market. In this position paper, the American College of Physicians (ACP) proposes that new policies should be implemented to prevent market manipulation and help lower-cost alternatives make it to the market for generic and biosimilar drugs. The ACP believes these changes will have a meaningful effect on patients without shifting costs to other healthcare system areas.
Increasing competition in the marketplace, and mainly introducing multiple competitor products for lower-cost generic or biosimilar drugs, is a cornerstone to controlling the increasing price of pharmaceuticals and achieving sustainability in the U.S. prescription drug marketplace.
In conclusion, increasing the availability of lower-cost drugs in the prescription drug marketplace is vital to achieving lower out-of-pocket costs for patients and driving the price of prescription drugs down. The ACP believes that to accomplish this, we must realign incentives that reward real innovation, prevent manufacturers from exploiting loopholes, and address business practices that lead to increased costs to the health system.
Ref: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M19-3773
