It would be best if you always had strategies that you can use when your drug patent is about to lose its exclusivity. As your drug patent expires and the generic competition emerges, your branded drugs will automatically lose more than 40% of their sales to generic formulations. It is therefore always essential to come up with strategies for you to have a soft landing spot in case your drug patent expires. These are some of the steps you may consider taking as your drug patent approaches its expiry:
The conventional therapy against the return hits that come with the loss of exclusivity include:
- You may delay provisional generic entry to the market via a pediatric license indication
- You can develop a product line extension with the capability of patent protection
- Engage in short-term promotional marketing and sales plans
It would help if you were informed that these strategies are useful for every drug. However, they are the typical first line strategy against the economic importance of drug patent expiration.
Having a well-planned line extension always works well with a drug. For example, you can consider manufacturing drugs that have longer prescriptions. With this, you will be able to manage the effects of the loss of the initial drug patent, and you will eventually have high sales henceforth. By lowering the dosing burden, you will be able to counter losses from generic competitors.
You may try to maximize your profits by raising your drug prices before your drug patent expires. You can also do the following to mitigate your losses:
- Introduce e-vouchers and vouchers for free samples of drugs
- You may introduce patient’s bonuses
- Introduce sharing discounted cards to help uninsured patients
- Have some well-crafted routines for your targeted population.
For you to predict the retention market after your drug patent has expired will be based on the factors that surround the drug itself. These factors may also be related to the class of the drug. Some of the market retentive factors that may be related to the drug are:
- Challenges in drug manufacturing
- The potentiality of an alternative over the counter drug
- Presence of follow-on medication
- A small therapeutic index
There is also the consideration for an authorized generic. Before you go for an authorized drug, you must first determine if the loss of income from your branded drugs would outshine the revenues from the legal generic drugs. The achievement of generic medicines will depend on these three significant factors:
- Potential to attract a well-established generic licensing partner
- Market size
- Ability to attract several generic competitors
If your drug is almost losing its patent, you should maximize your profits before the generics take over. However, you can also take other steps with your branded drugs to extend their shelf life beyond the loss of exclusivity and compete effectively with the generics.
A time comes when exclusivity comes to an end, and it would be interesting to get a glimpse into how biomedical companies like LexaGene Holdings Inc. (TSX.V: LXG) (OTCQB: LXXGF) plan for that time when a patent is expiring.
About BioMedWire
BioMedWire (BMW) is a bio-med news and content distribution company that provides (1) access to a network of wire services via NetworkWire to reach all target markets, industries and demographics in the most effective manner possible, (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ news outlets (3), enhanced press release services to ensure maximum impact, (4) social media distribution via the Investor Brand Network (IBN) to nearly 2 million followers, (5) a full array of corporate communications solutions, and (6) a total news coverage solution with BMW Prime. As a multifaceted organization with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, BMW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, BMW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. BMW is where news, content and information converge.
To receive SMS text alerts from BioMedWire, text “STOCKS” to 77948 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only)
For more information, please visit https://www.biomedwire.com
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the BioMedWire website applicable to all content provided by BMW, wherever published or re-published: http://BMW.fm/Disclaimer
BioMedWire (BMW)
San Francisco, California
www.biomedwire.com
415.949.5050 Office
Editor@BioMedWire.com
BioMedWire is part of the InvestorBrandNetwork.