Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Restrictions on GP prescribing of atorvastatin are set to tumble as a generic manufacturer slashed the price of the drug by 93% today.
The massive drop in cost will save millions for the NHS and is likely to herald a sea-change in GP management of hypercholesterolaemia, with all new patients needing statin treatment placed on the drug in preference to simvastatin.
It comes after the patent for atorvastatin held by Pfizer expired yesterday, and a legal block on prescribing generic versions was lifted.
Pulse revealed earlier this year that GPs were set to be enrolled in schemes to switch patients en masse to atorvastatin after an NHS-commissioned analysis found its price could plummet by as much as 95% when it came off patent.
http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/main-co...ce-of-atorvastatin-plummets-93-as-patent-ends
(free registration required)
The massive drop in cost will save millions for the NHS and is likely to herald a sea-change in GP management of hypercholesterolaemia, with all new patients needing statin treatment placed on the drug in preference to simvastatin.
It comes after the patent for atorvastatin held by Pfizer expired yesterday, and a legal block on prescribing generic versions was lifted.
Pulse revealed earlier this year that GPs were set to be enrolled in schemes to switch patients en masse to atorvastatin after an NHS-commissioned analysis found its price could plummet by as much as 95% when it came off patent.
http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/main-co...ce-of-atorvastatin-plummets-93-as-patent-ends
(free registration required)