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  1. Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    784
    #1
    Here is the dilemma.

    Apparently i was talking to someone and it was mentioned that there is a category of drugs that are called biosimilars. Loosely translated they are "copies" of biopharmaceuticals. Now the problem lies in the generics thing where there are generics of low-molecular weight drugs (like paracetamol etc) which are relatively easy to copy. Now biopharmaceuticals which are used to medicate diabetics, cancer patients, those undergoing dialysis, etc use human DNA (if i got that right) and as such the biosimilars that copy these and come from cheap sources like China, India, etc and flood our market (di kasi bawal dito as opposed to the US and Europe) may come tainted with HIV, hepa and just be plain ineffective. Kasi complex ang process deriving from DNA and also un-screened ang donors kaya tainted. Now the price is really so much cheaper than the orig kaya they sell well in the third world even if they are tainted and may have hidden threats (like HIV).

    But our FDA categorizes these biosimilars as generics.

    Question is would you get a cheaper product if it meant that it was possible it was tainted or would you buy the orig? What are your thoughts?

    And what is your thinking of the big Pharma companies pushing what could be tainted drugs? One of the biggest local companies is actually distributing biosimilars locally.

    Unfortunately patients dont realise the hidden threat. They are not informed and I suppose a big company would not like that much info spread out.

  2. Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    1
    #2
    I think that there are some misconceptions about such 'Bio-equivalent' products. These are found to be equally effective, established through clinical reports, and have been accepted even by US FDA to have similar therapeutic effect as "Inventors' products". They are economical in prices because these molecules have been produced through alternative process, and do not bear the astronomical margin of the products patented by the Inventors. The glaring examples are several anti-retroviral (anti-AIDS) drugs.

    There is a common belief that if the price of any product is economical, the product quality is not equally good. But several big Inventor companies get many of their products manufactured by smaller companies, suppressing the Manufacturer's names & Countries of origin, as if people believe that those are manufactured by the original companies. By this way, big companies become much bigger in profit & publicity, and thus creates a better image, while the smaller companies languish.

  3. Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    6,105
    #3
    *hoonko: that is correct!

Would you buy medication based on price or safety?