Ambien's Patent is Up; Could Sleep Drug Costs Be Going Down?

Guess what?   The time has actually come for the patent of one of the most widely used sleep medications in the world -- Ambien -- to come to an end.   According to a recent article in The Sleep Report:

This year alone, 10 brand-name medications with revenue exceeding $8.1 billion are expected to lose patent exclusivity, including the widely prescribed sleep medication Ambien (zolpidem tartrate).

• Ambien’s US sales exceeded $2 billion last year.
• Medications to treat sleep disorders are one of the fastest growing categories of drug spending, rising 31.5% in 2005 alone according to Medco Health Solutions Inc, a pharmacy benefit manager.
• While seniors use the most hypnotics, younger adults showed the greatest increase in use of these drugs.
• According to Medco’s analysis, the number of adults aged 20 to 44 years using sleeping medications increased by 128% between 2000 and 2005.
• According to pharmacy market analyst IMS Health, a one percent increase in generic utilization nationwide yields almost $4 billion in savings.

So what does this mean for those of you who are taking these valuable medications?

First, you should know that the makers of Ambien have done a great job of reducing the price of their newest medication, Ambien CR, so that it will match or come very close to the price of generic.

Next, I hope to see insurance companies recognizing that the use of these medications can in fact LOWER our healthcare premiums, but I doubt it.

Comments

[iknowall]

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[Steve]

You have got to be kidding, or incredibly naive. Generic Ambien (zolpidem) will be many times less expensive than Ambien CR once the 6 month exclusivity period is over.

Ambien CR is an exremely lame excuse for a drug and it's only reason for existence is to keep Sanofi-Aventis from losing revenue when Ambien goes generic.