The Food and Drug Administration said it’s taking steps to boost the number of generic prescription drugs on the market in an effort to make medicines more affordable and to prevent price gouging.
Copycat pills generally have been much cheaper than original brand-name drugs. But recent high-profile cases have shown how lack of competition and medicine shortages allowed several drug companies to drastically increase prices for generics and some older brand-name products such as EpiPen emergency allergy injectors.
New FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb made addressing prices a priority, saying that agency can help by increasing market competition. While the FDA reviews and approves medications, it doesn’t have the power to regulate prices.
“No patient should be priced out of the medicines they need, and as an agency dedicated to promoting public health, we must do our part to help patients get access to the treatments they require,” Gottlieb said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the FDA said it will now give priority reviews to new generic drugs until there are at least three on the market. That’s the level at which prices tend to drop sharply, up to 85 percent off the brand-name price.