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Sixty Percent of Pharmacy Directors Expect to Reimburse Biogenerics Within Six Months on The Market

Posted on: Wednesday, 3 October 2007, 09:00 CDT

WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources, Inc., one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that U.S. payers expect to incorporate biogeneric agents into their formularies quite rapidly. According to the new special report entitled Biogenerics 2007-2016: Physician and Payer Acceptance Fuels Brand Erosion, approximately 60 percent of pharmacy directors expect to reimburse biogenerics within a drug's first six months on the market and nearly 100 percent of surveyed payers will include these agents on their formularies within the first year.

"Pharmacy directors expect to encourage adoption through standard managed care pharmacy benefit strategies such as preferred placement for biogenerics on formularies and reduced costs to patients," said Andrew Merseth, analyst at Decision Resources. "Specifically, U.S. payers intend to place biogenerics on lower tiers than originator brands and will increase patient costs for comparator branded agents relative to biogenerics. Pharmacy directors also expect to encourage the use of biogenerics before other branded agents and second-generation biologic brands, through their emphasis on capturing savings, though such efforts vary depending on the indication and patient treatment history."

U.S. pharmacy directors are optimistic that both physicians and patients will accept biogeneric agents, but believe it will be necessary for managed care organizations to conduct promotional outreach programs to educate patients and physicians in order to increase biogeneric awareness and acceptance. In addition, payers state that the success of biogenerics will depend on the amount of savings they can offer to private plans. Among potential constraints to biogeneric adoption, respondents frequently cite cost - plans will promote biogenerics only if they are priced attractively. The majority of surveyed U.S. payers believe that biogenerics priced at a discount of approximately 26-35 percent relative to the branded agent would encourage most physicians to prescribe them over branded versions.

Mr. Merseth will be conducting a webinar entitled Updating Your Forecast for Biogenerics: A Decision Resources Primer based on the report on October 16 at 10 a.m. Attendance is free. Contact Chris Comfort at 781-296-2597 or ccomfort@dresources.com to register to attend.

About Biogenerics 2007-2016: Physician and Payer Acceptance Fuels Brand Erosion

Biogenerics 2007-2016: Physician and Payer Acceptance Fuels Brand Erosion covers 13 key biologic brands across eight indications and includes more primary research than any other report produced by Decision Resources. It includes surveys with 317 physicians across four specialties from the United States, France, and Germany and primary research with 40 U.S. HMO pharmacy directors. The report includes a 10-year annualized forecast for the 13 key brands and for their biogeneric competition and provides a framework for forecasting other biogenerics.

About Decision Resources

Decision Resources, Inc. (http://www.decisionresources.com/) is a world leader in market research publications, advisory services, and consulting designed to help clients shape strategy, allocate resources, and master their chosen markets.

All company, brand, or product names contained in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

For more information, contact: Elizabeth Marshall Decision Resources, Inc. 781-296-2563 emarshall@dresources.com

Decision Resources, Inc.

CONTACT: Elizabeth Marshall of Decision Resources, Inc., +1-781-296-2563, emarshall@dresources.com

Web site: http://www.decisionresources.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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