Impact of hypertension generics in Europe

INICIO/Informes | Posted 04/03/2016 post-comment0 Post your comment

A report by the Germany-based Institute for Healthcare and Social Research (IGES) released in November 2015 found that generics of drugs to treat high blood pressure can increase patient adherence and reduce healthcare budgets for European countries.

151 MD002298

High blood pressure (hypertension) is a chronic condition often without symptoms that is linked to serious health issues such as heart disease and stroke, if not detected early and treated appropriately.

The most important drug classes for treatment of hypertension with generics competition are diuretics, calcium antagonists, beta blocker, ACE-inhibitors and AT-II-antagonists. Generics competition for these classes began in the early 1970s (diuretics) up to the more recent generics competition for AT-II-antagonists (Losartan) in 2010.

Generics will create a patient-related benefit if they contribute to an increased patient adherence to long-term therapy or compliance. In Italy, where patients have to make co-payments for brand-name drugs, a positive impact on adherence has been shown. Although in The Netherlands, where both generic and originator medicines are fully covered, adherence after substitution was still higher for patients substituted with a generic hypertensive drug (92.4%) compared with non-substituted patients (90.4%). One explanation for this could be that pharmacies usually educate patients about the reasons for generics substitution, possibly increasing awareness about the benefits of adherent drug use. Negative perceptions have, however, also been reported. Patients’ acceptance of generics substitution is influenced by age, educational levels, perceptions of disease, generic drug information, and depending on who informed them about the change.

When considering cost-effectiveness, Watanabe et al. (2014) estimated that the cost of hypertension control medications for non-diabetic patients to gain an additional quality-of-life year (QALY) versus non-treatment dropped by about 85% when substituting available generics for brand-name medications (from US$52,983 to US$7,753).

In conclusion, hypertension generics can increase patient adherence depending on co-payments and education, while also being cost-effective for governments and payers.

Related articles

Impact of antidepressant generics in Europe

Impact of breast cancer generics in Europe

Impact of generics on European budgets

Generics market share in Europe

Generics reduce costs and increase access

Permission granted to reproduce for personal and non-commercial use only. All other reproduction, copy or reprinting of all or part of any ‘Content’ found on this website is strictly prohibited without the prior consent of the publisher. Contact the publisher to obtain permission before redistributing.

Copyright – Unless otherwise stated all contents of this website are © 2016 Pro Pharma Communications International. All Rights Reserved.

comment icon Comments (0)
Post your comment
Most viewed articles
Sobre GaBI
INICIO/Sobre GaBI Posted 06/08/2009
EU guidelines for biosimilars
EMA logo 1 V13C15
INICIO/Directrices Posted 08/10/2010