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Data Take: Forget Teva and Mylan - Big Pharma Owns Generics

 
• By John Hodgson

The pool at the foot of the patent cliff is a dark, dynamic vortex. Teva's imminent acquisition of Allergan's generics division just about moves the needle: but it's big pharma that dominates the off-patent drugs business these days.

production line

Only four of the top ten companies that compete in the generic drugs market – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.,Fresenius Kabi AG, Mylan NV and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. - are "generics" companies. The premier league includes six "originators" for whom off patent drugs just happen to account for 31-68% of their drug sales - Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca PLC, Sanofi, Novartis AG, Novo Nordisk AS, and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (The main table at the end of the article shows the top 30 companies competing in the generics space).

At least since 2011, a time when the world's biggest ever selling drug, Pfizer's Lipitor, lost a large part of its market exclusivity, the major pharmaceutical companies have been collecting more and more off-patent drugs

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