The prescription drug market in the U.S. is expected to shrink by 1.2 percent by the end of 2013. IMS Institute attributes much of this reduction to increased sales of generic drugs over brand name drugs. Drug patent expirations are also contributing to this decrease in spending.
However, IMS projects spending will increase between 1 and 4 percent by 2017, partly due to increased insurance coverage through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Additionally, companies are increasingly producing specialty medications for rare diseases and small patient populations, which will also contribute to a rise in drug spending.
Spending in the specialty drug market is expected to rise by 38 percent to between $230 billion and $240 billion by 2017.
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