GPhA Releases Its Own Study On Authorized Generics

The Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA), the trade group representing generic drug makers, released a study today concluding that authorized generics do not save consumers money and ultimately will lead to higher drug prices.  GPhA's study, conducted by a law professor and an economics professor, appears to be a reaction to PhRMA's study, released last month, reaching the opposite conclusion.

According to GPhA's press release, its study:

conclusively demonstrates that the anti-competitive brand pharmaceutical practice of introducing authorized generics (AGs) "significantly reduce incentives for independent generic firms to challenge invalid brand name patents and to develop non-infringing processes."  This analysis also raised serious questions about the validity of a recent PhRMA study on authorized generics, noting that the PhRMA study contained significant errors making its conclusions questionable at best.

In response, PhRMA issued its own press release today, defending its study as sound.