Researchers Find Decades-Old Ingredients in Costly Drugs

A team of Harvard Medical School researchers in a new study suggest that 11 of the 27 active ingredients in 25 brand drugs that topped Medicare spending in 2017 had already received FDA approval for other products, according to a Regulatory Affairs Professional Society report.

“Many active ingredients in the 25 brand-name drugs with the highest Medicare spending were discovered decades ago, with a substantial minority having been previously marketed in alternative formulations or products,” the authors, Emily Jung, Ameet Sarpatwari and Aaron Kesselheim, write.

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