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Opportunities for generic savings in
2013 and 2014
During 2013 and 2014, 37 brand-name prescription drugs, used by more than 334,000 people in upstate New York, are scheduled to become available in their generic form. With more than $558 million spent annually on these drugs in 39 upstate New York counties, the introduction of these generics promises to provide substantial savings of more than $447 million each year once the generics become widely available.
In 2013, the largest potential long-term savings will come from Cymbalta, which has 40,000 users in upstate New York, and Diovan with 39,000 users. In 2014, the largest potential long-term savings will come from Nexium with close to 47,000 upstate New York users and Celebrex with 21,000 users. Once their generics become widely available, potential annual savings could total $227 million from these four drugs alone.
A generic drug contains the same active ingredients in the same dosage form as a brand-name drug. All generic drugs are approved by the Food and Drug Administration as safe and effective. Not all brand-name drugs have exact generic equivalents, but there may be effective generic alternatives within the same therapeutic class.
The following tables summarize the generic equivalents that are scheduled to become available in 2013 and 2014.
Winter 2013
Estimated
Annualized
Estimated
Estimated
Availability*
Annual Spend*
Opportunity*
$245,102,286
$196,081,829
Winter 2013
Estimated
Annualized
Estimated
Estimated
Availability*
Annual Spend*
Opportunity*
$313,674,184
$250,939,347
Total 2013-2014
334,340 $558,776,470 $447,021,176
Winter 2013
Savings information about prescription drugs
Educational materials and resources with information about ways to save money with generics are available at www.go.univerahealthcare.com/generics.
Methodology
Estimates are based on an extrapolation of drug utilization data from FLRx, Univera Healthcare’s pharmacy management division, for a six-month period (June 2012 - November 2012). This extrapola-tion includes a mix of commercial, Medicare and safety net populations. • The total FLRx benefit membership used in this assessment is approximately 1.25 million people. Based on the 2011 census for the 39-county upstate New York region, this represents approximately 25 percent of the total population in the 39 counties. Census population estimates are from Census.gov.
• Estimates of the number of prescriptions and number of users across the 39-county region were based on extrapolations of the June 2012 - November 2012 utilization data from FLRx to the census population of the 39-county region.
• Drug cost was based on the ingredient cost for the drugs noted in the assessment, adjusted to more accurately reflect community pricing (i.e., average wholesale prices).
• Typically, the cost of new generics does not reflect significant savings until after the first six months in which the generic is on the market. Once multiple manufacturers are producing the generic, the cost can drop substantially and reflect savings of more than 80 percent compared with the brand. In this assessment, we assumed that 100 percent of the brand drug use would transition to generic, and that the eventual savings achievement would be 80 percent. Individual drug cost/pricing can vary in the time interval to achieve maximum generic usage and in the final market pricing and relative savings. • The list of 2013 - 2014 brand drugs that will be available generically was developed from The release dates reflect current estimates of the earliest dates when one or more patents covering the indicated brand drug will expire and, therefore, the earliest date when the generic version of the drug may become available. In some cases, other patents may exist or litigation could arise that could extend the exclusivity period of the brand drug beyond the date indicated.
Winter 2013

Source: http://brand.univerahealthcare.com/broker/downloads/Fact_Sheet_Generic_Savings_2013-2014_UHC.pdf