Pfizer's Lipitor "will suffer most" from Zocor's patent expiry; report

Primary care physicians and cardiologists in the USA expect to substantially decrease their prescribing of Pfizer's blockbuster cholesterol-lowerer Lipitor (atorvastatin) - which had global sales of over $12.0 billion last year - when generic simvastatin (Merck & Co's branded drug Zocor) becomes available in June, according to the findings of a new report from Decision Resources.

Interestingly, this research, which was announced just after a new economic analysis demonstrated that Lipitor is more cost-effective than generic simvastatin, when this becomes available (Marketletter May 22), would appear to contradict the previous findings.

DR's new PhysicianForum report, entitled Changing Dynamics in the Dyslipidemia Market: The Intrusion of Major Generic Statins, finds that 56% of primary care physicians and 53% of cardiologists say that their first-line statin following Zocor's patent expiry will be either generic simvastatin or branded Zocor, with the latter likely selected based on physicians' having assumed automatic generic substitution at the retail level. Lipitor will bear the brunt of this change, although most switching from this brand will occur in low-risk patients treated with 20mg per day or less, the research concludes.