Background

There is limited data regarding generic medication prices. Recent studies have shown price changes at the retail level, but much is not known about the pharmaceutical supply chain or price changes at the manufacturer level.

Objective

We sought to examine the extent of price changes for topical generic medications.

Methods

A comprehensive review of average wholesale prices (AWPs) and manufacturers of topical generics and available corresponding branded medications was conducted for 2005 and 2016.

Results

A total of 51 topical chemical entities were examined. Between 2005 and 2016, the AWP of topical generic medications increased by 273% and the AWP of topical branded medications increased by 379%. The topical generic with the greatest price change increased by 2529%. Eight of the top 20 topical generic medications with the greatest increases in AWP also had an increase in the number of manufacturers.

Limitations

These findings are not generalizable to medications used in other areas of medicine.

Conclusion

Topical generic prices are rapidly increasing at the manufacturer level.

中文翻译：

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制造商提高了局部通用仿制药的价格

背景

关于仿制药价格的数据有限。最近的研究表明零售价格发生了变化，但是对于药品供应链或制造商价格变化知之甚少。

客观的

我们试图研究局部仿制药的价格变化幅度。

方法

对2005年和2016年的平均批发价格（AWP）和外用仿制药制造商以及可用的相应品牌药物进行了全面审查。

结果

总共检查了51种局部化学实体。在2005年至2016年期间，外用非专利药物的AWP增加了273％，外用品牌药物的AWP增加了379％。价格变化最大的外用仿制药增加了2529％。AWP增幅最大的前20种局部用药中，有八种的制造商数量也有所增加。

局限性

这些发现不能推广到其他医学领域中使用的药物。

结论

通用仿制药的价格在制造商一级迅速增长。