Inasmuch as raising the efficiency of pharmaceutical expenditures is an important policy goal toward keeping the National Health Insurance financially sustainable, off-patent drugs are regarded as a market with significant potential. Pharmaceutical expenditures have been growing more rapidly in Korea than in any other OECD country. It is crucial thus to add efficiency to Korea’s pharmaceutical expenditures. In theory, using generics in place of off-patent brand-name drugs, as long as they have the same clinical effect, can be conducive to reducing pharmaceutical spending. The larger the range of drugs of the same active ingredients and pharmaceutical formulation, the more likely it is that the prices of these products will fall through competition.
