LOS ANGELES — For millions of Americans, prescription drugs are about to get a lot cheaper.
Patents on some of the most popular medications will expire over the next few years, giving consumers access to less expensive generic versions — and costing the pharmaceutical industry an estimated $100 billion in lost sales through 2015.
Lipitor, a cholesterol-fighting medication that is the top-selling prescription drug of all time, lost its patent protection Wednesday. The drug’s manufacturer, Pfizer Inc., already has slashed its price to as little as $4 a month for privately insured patients, the majority of Lipitor users. That’s down from typical co-pays of $25 to $45.
In the months to come, patents will expire on other popular drugs including Lexapro, used to treat depression, and Plavix, which is widely prescribed for blood thinning. Asthma sufferers will be able to get generic versions of Singulair next summer.
Experts say the timing is largely coincidental but will pay big benefits: Prices typically fall as much as 90 percent when generics come on the market.
“It’s great news for patients because they are going to experience savings that I call the patent dividend,” said Michael Kleinrock, director of research development at the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, which tracks the pharmaceutical industry.
Wisconsin retiree Gloria Schmid, 68, said the lower price would help her afford her Lipitor prescription on a tight budget. She has been paying $63 a month for the medicine even with insurance.
“That would be marvelous,” Schmid said of the savings. “As you get older, your resources get to be less and less. That’s what worries me.”
But the patent expirations pose a challenge for the drug companies, which have come to expect large payoffs for their patented medicines.
IMS estimates drug companies will lose $100 billion in revenue over the next four years, and that will diminish the money available to develop the next generation of popular drugs. Generics make up 79 percent of all prescription medications dispensed in the U.S.
In addition, much of the pioneering pharmaceutical work under way is for treating diseases that afflict fewer people, such as certain cancers, and probably won’t lead to drugs with huge sales figures.
“The era of blockbuster drugs is gone,” said Alexander Kandybin, a partner and health specialist at Booz &Co., a management consulting firm in New York. “The pipeline will not replace that revenue. It’s inherently unpredictable how the industry is going to evolve over the next five years.”
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