Out-of-pocket spending for hepatitis B meds kept rising, despite generic competition

File this under ‘How curious.’

After  generic versions of a key hepatitis B treatment debuted in 2014, they helped patients save money over the next few years. Yet at the same time, the average out-of-pocket spending on those generics actually rose, even though nearly a dozen copycat versions were available, suggesting competition failed to work sufficiently.

How so? Once the initial generics appeared, the brand-name medicine, known as entecavir, sold for an average of $118 for a 30-day supply, and eventually leveled off at $165 two years later. Meanwhile, the average 30-day supply for generics cost $41 in 2014 before settling at $52 in 2018, the last year for which data was available, according to the analysis published in JAMA Network Open.

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