20 July 2016 - The FDA said Wednesday that it had approved generic versions of the blockbuster cholesterol-lowering pill Crestor, rejecting a last-ditch and controversial effort by AstraZeneca to stop cheaper competition from reaching pharmacy shelves.

The move should considerably decrease the price of the drug and result in a sharp loss of market share for AstraZeneca. The brand-name drug has a retail price around $260 a month, according to GoodRx.com. With multiple generics now coming onto the market, the price could eventually drop as much as 80 to 90 percent.

AstraZeneca argued in a petition to the FDA and in a federal lawsuit that the agency could not legally approve any generics of Crestor because the drug had recently been approved to treat children with an extremely rare disease.

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