As patents expire drug companies do everything they can to keep the profits going: extending the patent, reinventing the drug with a new name, lawsuits against generic drug companies as a delay tactic, and more. Recently Pfizer, in all of its ingenuity (that might be better spent on saving lives rather than profits), has come up with one more way to continue to profit off a well branded drug:

“Pfizer has developed a novel program that lets people stay on Lipitor, even as more competitors prepare to enter the market.  Patients can sign up to get a $4 co-pay card that will allow them to get their prescription filled at generic prices through the company’s new program, “Lipitor For You.”

In the U.S., the company is offering to sell Lipitor at generic prices to health plans and to pharmacies and pharmaceutical distributors who agree to fill prescriptions with its product instead of an unbranded version.

The effort is part of a broader push by Pfizer to keep patients on the brand-name drug.  The blockbuster medicine generated tens of billions of dollars in revenue for Pfizer over its patent life.”

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