CNN：World's best-selling drug loses patent立普妥专利将到期

立普妥，辉瑞的拳头产品，也是目前世界上最畅销的药品，在2010年全球最畅销的20种药品名单中，立普妥以全年销售收入达118亿美元居于首位。随着立普妥专利到期的命运来临，为此，CNN专门做了有关报道，见：http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/3 ... x.html?eref=edition

(CNN) -- Lipitor, the popular cholesterol-lowering drug, loses its patent Wednesday, paving the way for cheaper generic versions.
"For generic drugs, they have the same active ingredient as the brand-name drug and the big difference is they tend to be significantly less expensive," said Dr. Glen Stettin, chief medical officer of Medco, one of the country's largest pharmacy benefits manager.
More than 17 million people have been prescribed Lipitor, according to its manufacturer Pfizer. Last year, Lipitor's sale added up to more than $5 billion in the United States alone, according to Medco.
While it is not known how much cheaper the generic version of the cholesterol-lowering drug will be, Pfizer is working with pharmacy benefit companies to lower co-payments to hold on to as many customers as possible.
When drug companies develop a drug, the Food and Drug Administration usually grants them exclusive rights to market the drug for a set period of time.
When those rights expire, other companies can make same drug. The competition results in cheaper generic versions.
The FDA says the regulations are "designed to promote a balance between new drug innovation and generic drug competition."

国内有关新闻见：http://news.xinhuanet.com/health/2011-09/01/c_121941830.htm

又可见：http://www.yyjjb.com.cn/html/2011-11/07/content_154231.htm

generic drugs，

国内不是早就有仿制品了？商品名阿乐