Tips That Can Help You Talk with Friends and Family

Summer parades, pool openings, and family outings garner conversations around the grill. To ensure a relaxing and enjoyable season, here are some helpful tips for discussing the biopharmaceutical industry with family and friends.

A common challenge among colleagues and retirees is a lack of public understanding about prescription medicine pricing. The best way to handle these questions is with some simple, accurate, and effective responses that deliver important information about our industry.

Start by Discussing Your Work. It's important for people to understand that our industry is composed of talented and caring individuals, like you, who strive to bring innovative medicines to patients around the world. Talk about the work you did prior to retiring.\

Remember, It's a Risky Business. Few people know it takes 10 to 15 years and about $1 billion to develop a single new medicine. Our R&D budget not only pays for our successes, but also the many important attempts that failed. Remember, Edison discovered over 1,000 different ways not to make a light bulb.

Be Proud of Our Commitment to Research. Pfizer leads the world in R&D spending, with $7.59 billion invested last year alone - ahead of Microsoft, Boeing, and Ford!

Share the Good Pfizer Does. Pfizer's Helpful Answers™ program helps patients without prescription coverage save on Pfizer medicines, no matter their age or income. Since 2002, Pfizer has helped more than 5.2 million patients receive more than 50 million Pfizer prescriptions, equaling more than $4 billion worth of medicines.

More Fast Facts

• Last year, drug spending grew at its lowest rate in 25 years.
  
  
• The U.S. has the highest generic use rate of any developed country, with 9 out of 10 most frequently prescribed drugs and 68 percent of all prescriptions filled with a generic. These generics are made possible by biopharmaceutical companies, like Pfizer, and their R&D efforts.
  
  
• Patients feel it in their wallet when paying for prescriptions because patients pay 10 times more in out-of-pocket expenses for prescription medicines vs. what they pay for inpatient hospital care, and 5 times more in out-of-pocket expenses vs. what they pay for a physician visit.
  
  
• Some innovative companies, like Pfizer, have found that reducing or eliminating co-pays saves money while improving outcomes.

These are just a few of the ways we recommend discussing Pfizer and our industry.