Why Are We Seeing Fewer Companies Willing To Make Older Generic Drugs, And What Can Be Done To Fix This Problem?

A: COMPETITION IS THE KEY TO CONTROLLING DRUG PRICES, especially with generics. Unfortunately, there are times when the profitability of certain generic drugs falls so low that generic companies decide to drop production. At this point, the system is ripe for abuse. To prevent this from happening in the future, a number of hospital systems spearheaded by Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City have banded together to form a nonprofit that will provide needed generic drugs, thereby preventing these situations from happening. If successful, this model should prevent such abuses in the future.

JOHN LAMATTINA, PH.D.
John is the former senior VP at Pfizer, Inc. and president of Pfizer Global R&D and current senior partner at PureTech Ventures.