Generic Business Overview
Barr develops and markets generic pharmaceuticals under the Barr label that are the generic equivalent of brand pharmaceuticals that no longer enjoy patent protection. The Company focuses on products that have one or more characteristics that make it difficult for other competitors to develop competing generics.
The aging population, rising health care costs and the vigilance of health care providers, insurance companies and others to lower such
costs have helped drive an increase in the substitution of lower-cost
generic products for higher-cost brand products. As evidence of this, the percentage of overall prescriptions filled with generic products grew from 43% in 2000 to 56% in 2005, and is predicted to continue to rise in the future.
As a percentage of total product sales, sales of our ge
enric products, including sales of products manufactured for the Company and sold under distribution agreements, accounted for 89% in fiscal 2004, 73% in fiscal 2005, and 72% in fiscal 2006.
The declining percentage over time reflects the increasing contribution from the Company’s growing proprietary products business over that same period.
Product Guide 
