FDA's FIRST GENERICS POLICY DRAWS PRAISE

The FDA's new First GenericsPolicy has evoked a positiveresponse from leaders ofthe generic drug industry, whoare predicting that the actionwill speed the marketing oflower-cost prescription medicines."Ensuring that at leastone generic medicine will beavailable to consumers whena brand's patent expires isgood news for consumers," officials at the Generic PharmaceuticalAssociation (GPhA)said.

Because of the FDA's action,"consumers will have moretimely access to safe, effective,and affordable generic medicines," GPhA said. "By makinggenerics more accessible, [the]FDA is saving consumers andour entire health care systemmillions of dollars."