Photos: Generic Pharmaceuticals Saved $734 Billion over L...( Even Greater Savings Would Result fro...),Health

Even Greater Savings Would Result from Increasing Funding for FDA, Creating a Workable Pathway for Biogenerics, Expanding Utilization of Generics

ARLINGTON, Va., May 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) today released the results of an independent analysis commissioned from IMS Health, the leading healthcare market intelligence company, revealing that using generic pharmaceuticals saved the American health care system more than $734 billion in the last decade (1999-2008), with approximately $121 billion in savings in 2008 alone. GPhA released the analysis as part of its year long celebration of the 25th anniversary of the 1984 Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act, commonly called the Hatch-Waxman Act.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/GPhA/38110/

"In 1984, it was predicted that the Hatch-Waxman Act would save our country $1 billion in the first decade. Now, generic medicines save more than that every three days," said GPhA President and CEO Kathleen Jaeger. "These savings are truly remarkable and demonstrate the real value of generic medicines for consumers and the entire health care system."

In the mid 1990s, the Congressional Budget Office released an analysis showing that in 1994, the 10th anniversary of the enactment of Hatch-Waxman, annual savings from generics had reached approximately $8 billion to $10 billion. The new data released today shows that by 1999 -- 15 years after Hatch-Waxman became law -- generics were generating $49 billion in annual savings.

From 1999 to 2004, generic savings increased steadily at an annual rate of between 3% and 10%, with savings growing from $49 billion in 1999 to $69 billion in 2004. Beginning in 2005 and continuing through 2008, the savings generated by generics gr
'/>"/>