School of Pharmacy, Keele University, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, UK.
School of Pharmacy, University of Mosul, Mosul, Nīnawā, Iraq.
BMJ Open. 2019 Aug 1;9(8):e026817. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026817.
Originator pharmaceutical companies prolonging the patent of a medicine prevents rivals' entry to the market and competition. As the entry of generic alternatives usually results in price reduction, any delay in their entry potentially deprives the National Health Service (NHS) of much-needed savings. This study estimates the potential cost savings lost to the NHS as a result of delayed entry of generic low-dose buprenorphine (LDTB) patches in England.
Two case scenarios were modelled to determine the savings from the entry of generic LDTB Butec only between February and August 2016 and the potential savings which could have been achieved if all generic LDTB patches had entered the market at the same time.
The volume of utilisation of branded and generic LDTB in UK primary care was derived from the NHS business services authority website for prescriptions dispensed between February 2015 and January 2018.
Cost savings associated with the entry of generic LDTB.
The cumulative cost savings from the introduction of Butec alone was £0.7 ($0.92) million. The model predicted that if all generic buprenorphine entered the market at the same time with Butec, they could have been achieved a £1.2 ($1.57) million saving. This means that approximately £0.5 ($0.65) million savings was lost to the NHS over the 6-month time period.
The entry of Butec was associated with cost savings. We estimated that more cost savings could have been achieved if other generic LDTB patches had entered the market at the same time to drive competition between rivals. Patent protection strategies which delayed the entry of multiple generics were responsible for the reduced cost savings to the NHS in England.
原创制药公司延长药品专利期限，可防止竞争对手进入市场并形成竞争。由于仿制药的进入通常会导致价格降低，因此任何延迟进入市场的行为都可能使国民保健服务体系（NHS）失去急需的节省。本研究估计了由于英国通用低剂量丁丙诺啡（LDTB）贴片延迟进入市场而导致国民保健服务体系（NHS）损失的潜在节省成本。
模拟了两种情况，以确定仅在 2016 年 2 月至 8 月期间通用 LDTB Butec 进入市场所带来的节省，以及如果所有通用 LDTB 贴片同时进入市场，可能实现的潜在节省。
英国初级保健中品牌和通用 LDTB 的使用量是从 NHS 商业服务局网站获得的，处方数据来源于 2015 年 2 月至 2018 年 1 月。
与通用 LDTB 进入市场相关的节省成本。
仅引入 Butec 就节省了 70 万英镑（92 万美元）。该模型预测，如果所有通用丁丙诺啡同时进入市场并与 Butec 竞争，可能节省 120 万英镑（157 万美元）。这意味着 NHS 在 6 个月的时间内损失了约 500 万英镑（650 万美元）的节省。
引入 Butec 可节省成本。我们估计，如果其他通用 LDTB 贴片同时进入市场以促进竞争对手之间的竞争，可能会实现更多的成本节省。延迟多种仿制药进入市场的专利保护策略导致英格兰国民保健服务体系（NHS）的节省成本减少。
