3 July 2017 - Generic drug price increases are strongly linked to market competition, according to data published online July 3 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Chintan V. Dave, PharmD, from the Department of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Pharmacy at University of Florida in Gainesville, and colleagues, say that, "Unless policies are enacted to stabilise generic drug markets in response to a decrease in competition, we may continue to see cases of generic drugs subject to large price increases."

The increases can be severe. According to an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the price of hypertension and heart failure drug captopril shot up by more than 2800% during 2012 to 2013, going from 1.4 cents to 39.9 cents per pill.

Read Medscape article