More than half of the drugs listed on the new TrumpRx website have or will soon have a cheaper generic version on the market that can be purchased through other direct-to-consumer sites.
Why it matters: Patients could save more buying non-branded copycat drugs, even if they don't have insurance and pay cash, drug pricing experts say.
Case in point: Pristiq, an antidepressant made by Pfizer, is available with a TrumpRx coupon for about $200 for a 30-day supply — a more than 50% discount from the list price.
- But a month's worth of a generic version with the same dosage is available on GoodRx for less than $30, and on Mark Cuban's CostPlusDrugs for just $16.65.
Where it stands: 20 of the 43 drugs listed on TrumpRx as of the website's launch have generic alternatives, according to a tally by Anna Kaltenboeck, a drug pricing expert and president of Verdant Research.
- Another six contain components that are available as generics or compounded products, or have tentative approvals, meaning consumers will have access to the lower-cost products in the near future.
- "To the extent that a patient was buying these without insurance, I don't see this being a benefit," Kaltenboeck said.
Context: Pharmaceutical companies get patents for new drugs that give them market exclusivity for a set period.
- Once a patent expires, the drug can face competition from generics that bring prices down.
- Nine ouf of 10 U.S. prescriptions are for generics, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The intrigue: TrumpRx could help "funnel people to higher price-products and [take] money from them that they don't need to be spending when there's actually much cheaper alternatives out there," said Sarah Karlin-Smith, research director for the Access to Medicines program at Public Citizen.
A White House spokesperson told Axios that it's possible that cheaper alternatives are available for some products listed on TrumpRx, but said the site's value is in providing the lowest-cost option for branded products.
- The site has a disclaimer about checking copays first and is meant to give people options, not steer them in any direction, the spokesperson added.
Reality check: Consumers may have a personal preference for a branded drug over a generic.
- Generic drugs are reviewed by the FDA to make sure they perform the same way and contain the same active ingredients as brand-name products.
- But the FDA doesn't generally test generic drugs for quality concerns, and has failed to test products from factories with serious safety violations in the past, according to a ProPublica investigation published in December.
Editor's note: The story has been updated to reflect a revised tally of generic alternatives that came out after publication.
