ArticlePloS one2024
Explaining why increases in generic use outpace decreases in brand name medicine use in multisource markets and the role of regulation.
Article in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- The 10 top prescribed medicines in Germany from 1985 to 2022: pharmacological analysis.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Rising direct medical costs of osteoarthritis in Germany from 2002 to 2020: trends, demographic drivers, and public health considerations.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundHealthcare systems worldwide face escalating pharmaceutical expenditures despite interventions targeting pricing and generic substitution. Existing studies often overlook unwarranted volume increases in multisource markets due to differential physician perceptions of brand name and generics.
objectiveThis study aims to explain the outpacing of generic medicine use over brand name use in multisource markets and assess the regulatory role, specifically examining the impact of reference pricing on volume and intensity increases.
methodsAnalyzing German multisource prescription medicine markets from 2011 to 2014, we evaluate regulatory mechanisms and explore whether brand name and generic medicines constitute separate market segments. Using an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition approach, we divide the differential in brand name versus generic medicine use rates into market structure and unobserved segment effects.
resultsGeneric use rates surpass same-market brand name substitution by 3.87 prescriptions per physician and medicine, on average. Reference pricing mitigated volume increase, treatment intensity and expenditure. Disparities in quantity and expenditure dynamics between brand name and generic segments are partially explained by market structure and segment effects.
conclusionGeneric medicine use effectively reduces expenditures but contributes to increased net prescription rates. Reference pricing may control medicine use, but divergent physician perceptions of brand name and generics, revealed by identified segment effects, call for nuanced policy interventions.
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