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The End of an Era: Lipitor, Blockbuster Drugs and the Waxman/Hatch Model

 
• By Michael McCaughan

Pfizer’s Lipitor goes generic—albeit with some decidedly unusual wrinkles. The biggest generic launch in history is a good moment to take stock of the transition away from the blockbuster model. The reaction to the milestone suggests that the industry’s critics may be having a harder time letting go of the old model than industry is.

If you want to pick a date to mark the end of the blockbuster drug era, December 1, 2011 is probably the right choice.

That is the day when Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc. launched the first “true” generic version of Pfizer Inc.’s cholesterol lowering drug Lipitor (atorvastatin). A generic actually became available the day before, when Watson launched an “authorized” generic supplied by Pfizer

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