Time ran out this week on the patent for Pfizer’s blockbuster drug Lipitor, the top-selling medication for fighting cholesterol. The marketplace is beginning to open to competing generic versions of the drug.
But, as The New York Times reports, Pfizer, with unprecedented discount deals, found what could be a way to preserve much of its market share over the next six months. That looked to Wall Street like a coup for the big drug company – but now three senators, in a bipartisan expression of skepticism, are demanding to see the marketing agreements detailing how Pfizer pulled it off.
The senators – Democrats Max Baucus of Montana and Herb Kohl of Wisconin, along with Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa — said they were concerned about the long-term impact on employers, Medicare and health care costs overall. “We need to take a close look to ensure we’re protecting both taxpayer dollars and access to the medicine patients need,” Baucus said in a statement.
The senators demanded the information in letters to Pfizer, and to two insurers and three pharmacy benefit management companies that process prescriptions.
According to The Associated Press, Pfizer has offered big rebates to insurance plans and the companies that process prescriptions if they require pharmacies to sell brand-name Lipitor and not generic competitors for the next six months
That strategy to thwart competitors was questioned by Kohl, who said: “Consumers and taxpayers foot the bill when drug benefit companies and insurers manipulate the marketplace to prevent access to generic drugs for millions of Americans.”
A Pfizer spokesman said the senators’ concerns were based on “incomplete or incorrect information,” and the company said participation in its plan “is entirely voluntary.” The company said its intent was to provide Lipitor at costs below generic levels for six months, after which more generics will be able to enter the market.
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