Blockbuster Drug
Categories: Tech, Company Management
Well, you know what a blockbuster movie is, right? The original Star Wars. Jaws. E.T. A blockbuster creates lines that go around the block, or is so positively explosve that the whole block is moved to haul it to the theater and shell out their $18, or whatever a movie costs these days.
A blockbuster drug is every pharmaceutical company’s dream. The drug works amazingly well and is used for long-term conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, cancer, or high blood pressure, so the patient needs to keep buying it year after year. The drug has very few side effects, and with over a billion dollars in sales every year, the company can afford to advertise the heck out of it.
Ever hear of Humira, Zoloft, Lipitor, or Vioxx? Probably. But (and this is a very big “but") their patents come with an expiration date, usually about 20 years. This means any other pesky pharmaceutical company can come up with a generic (and less expensive) version of the same drug once the patent expires. And there goes the cash cow.
As just one example, Lipitor sales declined by 90% after the generic came to market, putting a large dent in the company’s revenue. Perhaps this is why they feel they have to charge such high prices when the drug first comes to market...to enjoy the honeymoon while it lasts.
