FDA has approved 67 prescription drugs in generic form for first-time uses this year -- compared with 47 new generics for the same period last year -- resulting in "more choices than ever when it comes to generics," McClatchy/Billings Gazette reports. According to FDA, 8,730 of 11,487 prescription drugs have generic alternatives available. Generic drugs represented 66.4% of prescription drugs sold in 2004, compared with 61% in 2001, according to recent comments by Scott Gottlieb, deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs for the FDA. IMS Health estimates that brand-name drugs with combined annual sales of about $64 billion will lose patents in the next five years. In 2004, the average price of a generic prescription was $28.71 per month, compared with an average price of $94.54 per month for a brand-name prescription, according to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. The trend "means savings for consumers, especially when multiple companies offer a generic form and compete against each other," the McClatchy/Gazette reports. However, the Generic Pharmaceutical Association is concerned about a backlog of generic applications at FDA's Office of Generic Drugs. About 770 generic applications were pending by the end of fiscal year 2005, McClatchy/Gazette reports (Gruver, McClatchy/Billings Gazette, 11/8).

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