Or maybe it was lawmakers on Capitol Hill launching a crusade to lower the cost of Medicare prescription drugs, egged on by legions of aging Baby Boomers. About a dozen of the biggest prescription drugs are all losing their patent protection at roughly the same time. The pharmaceuticals don't want to lose these cash cows, so they're fighting to keep these drugs from generic competition as long as possible. It isn't clear how the surging public ire toward drug prices will shake out. If the industry is smart, it'll take its medicine and diversify.
Companies can no longer rely on two or three drugs for a majority of sales.
Consider a few recent developments that illustrate how the industry seems to be flailing to protect drugs whose patents are expiring. An FDA panel has concurred in a preliminary ruling. But the move would effectively kill Schering's ability to charge prescription prices before its patents on the drug expire. In a way, the company has fallen prey to its own success. But Schering wants to keep Claritin's status intact.