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WASHINGTON — The use of Food and Drug Administration approved generic and biosimilar medicines created $445 billion in savings in 2023 for patients, employers, taxpayers, and the healthcare system, according to a report released by the Association for Accessible Medicines. Total savings in the last decade amount to over $3 trillion.
Today, biosimilars – which are approved by the FDA as highly similar to and with no clinically meaningful differences than corresponding biologics – offer prices, on average, more than 40 percent lower than their brand biologic at the time of biosimilar launch.
However, the long-term outlook for generic and biosimilar competition hinges on addressing the barriers to development and adoption of these lower-cost medicines. Without action to strengthen the generic and biosimilars markets, many of these lower-cost medicines may disappear and patients’ access to care will suffer.
“On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Hatch-Waxman Act, we stand at a critical crossroads,” said David Gaugh, interim president and CEO of AAM. “With manufacturing facilities located in nearly half of U.S. states, today’s generic and biosimilar manufacturers form an integral and essential part of the healthcare system. But we cannot afford to take our generic and biosimilar industries for granted.”
Additional highlights from AAM’s 2024 Savings Report include:
- Total Generic and Biosimilar Savings for 2023: $445 billion, $37 billion more than in 2022
- Total Generic and Biosimilar Savings for Past 10 years: more than $3.1 trillion
- Total Generic and Biosimilar Savings in Medicare for 2023: $137 billion, $2,672 per beneficiary
- Total Generic and Biosimilar Savings in Commercial Plans for 2023: $206 billion
- Generics and biosimilars represent 90% of prescriptions filled, but only 13.1% of prescription drug spending
- Generics and biosimilars represent only 1.2% of all healthcare spending
- Biosimilars have generated $36 billion in savings since 2015, and have been used in almost 2.7 billion days of patient therapy with no unique clinical challenges
- Biosimilars have expanded patient access to care by nearly 500 million days of therapy
The 2024 U.S. Generic & Biosimilar Medicines Savings Report was developed in partnership with the IQVIA Institute, continuing 14 years of collaboration to quantify how much money America's patients and the U.S. healthcare system are saving through the use of generic and biosimilar alternatives.
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