Normally patients cant wait for big-selling, popular prescription medications to go generic. And who can blame them. After all, insurers charge lower co-payments for generic drugs, lowering the outof-pocket cost for patients. But Pfizer (PFE) executives told reporters today that one-third of patients now taking Lipitor want to stay on the brand-name version of the drug even after generic forms of the pill hit the market starting tomorrow. Pfizer has embarked on an ambitious plan to keep sales of brand-name Lipitor alive after the U.S. patent protecting Lipitor expires on Nov. 30, striking bargains with pharmacy benefit managers and insurers to keep dispensing Lipitor for the next six months at generic prices. And some analysts expect brand-name Lipitor to hold onto 40% of prescriptions written for Lipitor or atorvastatin (Lipitors generic name).
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