FDA gives patients less-expensive option, approves first generic versions of Plavix

The Food and Drug Administration's go-ahead will give patients who have to take blood thinners more options.  

The Associated Press: FDA OKs Multiple Companies To Sell Generic Plavix
Patients taking the popular blood thinner Plavix now have the option of getting a less-expensive pill, following the approval Thursday of the first generic versions in the U.S. That's because the patent for Plavix, the world's second-best-selling medicine, just expired. Plavix is taken by millions of people every day to prevent heart attacks and strokes, by preventing platelets in the blood from clumping together (Johnson, 5/17).

The Boston Globe: Momenta: The Perfect Massachusetts Success Story
Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. has discovered that reining in the cost of health care can be hugely profitable. The company's generic version of the anti-blood-clotting drug Lovenox -- priced about 30 percent cheaper than the brand-name drug made by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi SA -- helped boost Momenta's revenues by 142 percent to $283 million last year, while profits zoomed 383 percent to $180 million (Weisman, 5/17).

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill --

Politico: User Fee Bill May Hinge On Drug Tracking System
Perhaps the biggest piece of unsettled business in the massive Food and Drug Administration user fee bill is whether it will include a national system for tracking drugs -- an effort to combat the menace of counterfeit medications (Norman, 5/17).