Medfag here with a drug question. I've see this drug prescribed to lots of patients throughout the years and have heard mostly positive comments regarding the pain relief it provides. Likewise, I often hear complaints about the high cost. The drug is Celebrex.

Celebrex, a drug created by Pfizer, is a NSAID widely prescribed for patients with arthritis. The patents for celecoxib, (the generic name for Celebrex), expired during May of last year, allowing the drug to be produced and sold generically.

Currently, 30 capsules of 200mg celecoxib costs anywhere from $60 to $160. What's curious is that there has been little decrease in the drug price since the patent expiration last year.

My question is: why?

Does anyone know or have any speculations as to why the price has not decreased? This seems atypical relative to other drugs whose patents have expired. It is not uncommon to see the generic form of a drug cost less than 50% of the name brand. Is it expensive to manufacture? R&D costs are built into patented drug pricing, but this drug's patent expired, so that doesn't seem to be a valid reason for the high price. Is there a hazard cost that contributes to the high price? (Taking Celebrex can increase the risk of developing of cardiovascular problems.)

Just curious. I suppose I could take this over to /biz/, but I figured that there might be an explanation from a pharmacological or an industrial chemistry standpoint..