While the Food and Drug Administration prioritizes drugs that fill a previously unmet medical need, "me too" drugs — or medications for illnesses that already have treatments — are valuable for lowering high drug costs, says Avik Roy, a healthcare analyst and president of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.
Mr. Roy recently penned a report detailing market-based solutions for making new medicines more affordable.
One of his solutions involves encouraging drugmakers to produce more "me too" drugs to achieve price competition and drive down prices.
"'[M]e-too' drugs, which are chemically or mechanistically similar to existing drugs, are often derided because they are less innovative than drugs that create entirely new categories or address an unmet medical need," wrote Mr. Roy. "But [they] can help insurers and pharmacy benefit managers reduce costs for consumers."
To view the full report, click here.
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