Diabetes news
DIABETES BEING A HUGE TOPIC, I HAVE STARTED THIS THREAD ON DIABETES DRUGS:
Spending on prescription medicines increased by only 2% last year for clients of the nation's largest stand-alone pharmacy benefits manager as patients used more generic drugs, according to a report from Medco Health Solutions Inc. (MHS) .
Diabetes treatments replaced cholesterol-lowering drugs as the primary contributor to higher spending on prescription medicines, according to Medco, which also predicted that expenditures on cancer drugs will surge in the next three years.
Diabetes drug accounted for nearly 21% of the increase in drug spending among Medco clients last year, according to the company's drug-trend report.
Spending on diabetes drugs rose by 12% as patients shifted to higher-cost treatments, more people received medication and brand-name drug prices increased. The use of diabetes drugs increased only moderately, Medco said, predicting, however that spending on diabetes drugs will rise 8% to 12% a year through 2010.
While use of cholesterol drugs continues to grow, spending fell 8.5% last year as lower-cost generic versions of the cholesterol medicines Pravachol, from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), and Merck & Co.'s (MRK) Zocor took greater hold in the market, Medco said.
Cholesterol drugs had been the largest driver of drug-spending growth for a decade and account for 10.8% of all prescription costs, Medco said.
Costly targeted cancer and transplant therapies caused spending on those areas to grow by 15.5% last year, and Medco predicts annual spending will grow by 11% to 17%.
The company noted that more than 25 first-time generic drugs are scheduled for introduction to the market in the next three years, which should allow clients and patients to experience lower costs for affected medications.
DR.VIKRAM.K
Source: CNN Money.com-By Dinah Wisenberg Brin, Dow Jones Newswires
Spending on prescription medicines increased by only 2% last year for clients of the nation's largest stand-alone pharmacy benefits manager as patients used more generic drugs, according to a report from Medco Health Solutions Inc. (MHS) .
Diabetes treatments replaced cholesterol-lowering drugs as the primary contributor to higher spending on prescription medicines, according to Medco, which also predicted that expenditures on cancer drugs will surge in the next three years.
Diabetes drug accounted for nearly 21% of the increase in drug spending among Medco clients last year, according to the company's drug-trend report.
Spending on diabetes drugs rose by 12% as patients shifted to higher-cost treatments, more people received medication and brand-name drug prices increased. The use of diabetes drugs increased only moderately, Medco said, predicting, however that spending on diabetes drugs will rise 8% to 12% a year through 2010.
While use of cholesterol drugs continues to grow, spending fell 8.5% last year as lower-cost generic versions of the cholesterol medicines Pravachol, from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), and Merck & Co.'s (MRK) Zocor took greater hold in the market, Medco said.
Cholesterol drugs had been the largest driver of drug-spending growth for a decade and account for 10.8% of all prescription costs, Medco said.
Costly targeted cancer and transplant therapies caused spending on those areas to grow by 15.5% last year, and Medco predicts annual spending will grow by 11% to 17%.
The company noted that more than 25 first-time generic drugs are scheduled for introduction to the market in the next three years, which should allow clients and patients to experience lower costs for affected medications.
DR.VIKRAM.K
Source: CNN Money.com-By Dinah Wisenberg Brin, Dow Jones Newswires
No comments:
Post a Comment