Prices for erectile dysfunction drugs remain relatively high despite the arrival of generic competition beginning in late 2017. However, it’s not a phenomenon associated solely with ED medications but one that affects the U.S. prescription drug market as a whole.
Across nearly two decades of high prices for erectile dysfunction medications, high hopes were pinned on the arrival of generic competition to eventually bring ED drug prices lower. Well, while admittedly few in number, the generics have arrived, but the long-awaited era of lower prices for ED drugs is apparently not yet at hand.
While it’s true that generic competition is still relatively limited, prices for brand-name ED medications seem to have remained the same or even increased slightly. Pfizer in mid-2018 announced price hikes on a number of its brand-name drugs, including Viagra, the little blue pill that revolutionized the treatment of ED. The drugmaker then bowed to pressure from the Trump administration and agreed to delay the price hikes. However, the price increases were scheduled to take hold on January 15, 2019.
Part of a Larger Problem
Perhaps most significantly, ED medications are just a tiny segment of the overall prescription drug market in the United States, which has experienced sharply higher prices in recent years. Increasing outrage over these runaway prescription drug prices has prompted promises of action from the White House, Department of Health and Human and Services, Food and Drug Administration, and Congress as well. However, thus far, little progress has been made in the fight to bring drug prices under control.
Although aggressive pricing strategies by original drug manufacturers is certainly a big part of the problem, some degree of responsibility for high prices is ascribed to the rise of pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. Although PBMs have been around for a while, their influence on consumer prices for prescription drugs increased significantly in 2006 when Medicare Part D coverage for these drugs first became available.
Are PBMs to Blame?
Some suggest that the growing role of PBMs in negotiating drug prices between insurers and drug manufacturers has given them increased influence in determining how these prices are set.
Further complicating matters is an alleged price control conspiracy among major generic drug manufacturers that sell products in the U.S. market. According to a thought-provoking article published in The Washington Post in December 2018, the alleged generic cartel encompasses at least 16 generic drugmakers and roughly 300 medications.
The ongoing investigation was initially triggered by a 2016 antitrust lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of several states into the pricing of two prescription drugs, according to Joseph Nielsen, an assistant attorney general and antitrust investigator in Connecticut. Of the alleged operation’s scope, Nielsen told The Washington Post, “This is most likely the largest cartel in the history of the United States.”
5 Brand-Name ED Drugs Available
As of early 2019, five brand-name ED drugs are available to U.S. consumers. These are Viagra, Levitra, Cialis, Staxyn, and Stendra. Also available are two generic alternatives to Viagra and one each to Levitra and Cialis. Generic competition is sure to increase, but how significantly such increased competition will soften prices of both brand-name and generic products remains to be seen.
If the convenience of ordering your ED drugs online appeals to you, consider taking your business to eDrugstore.com, a longtime online facilitator. In business since the late 1990s, eDrugstore stocks a full range of ED medications, including both brand-name and generic products, as well as a limited selection of other lifestyle medications. To learn more, visit eDrugstore’s Erectile Dysfunction page.
