Migraine abortive medications - triptan prices and patent expirations

I know half a dozen people like you and me who use Imitrex injection and have wondered why we are paying top dollar for this drug when the patent expired long ago.  Generic should have been available by now....some drug company is missing out on a goldmine.

Here's the deal -- the patient on injectable sumatriptan HAS expired, but the patient on the StatDose injector has NOT. Thus, companies are having to devise new injection systems and get FDA approval of the injection system. In June, I saw a needle-free device demonstrated at a conference. It should be approved soon.

Teri

Thanks, Teri

Of course with Glaxco/Smith/Kline's strong pharmaceutical lobby the FDA will drag its feet on approving the new injection methods.  Guess we always have to follow the money to find out whose hands are in whose pockets.

Gloria,

I have no idea what brought you to think this way, but I totally disagree on this issue.

And, by the way, nothing has prevented aother company from producing injectable sumatriptan in vials that we could draw up in a syringe and inject ourselves. That could have been done long ago, but all the generic manufacturers chose to go for an auto-inject system.

Teri

I don't think the drug companies believe most of the general public would be smart enough to draw from a vial into a syringe without getting air bubbles into the act.  That's why they have opted for the "pens".  It is foolproof.  I've heard enough about delays by the FDA for drugs that have been prescribed in Europe and Asia for years that have not made it through the Federal hurdles here for no good reason whatsoever.  Big pharma in interested in keeping market prices as high as they possibly can for those of us in the U.S. while allowing other countries to buy their drugs for 1/10 of what we pay.  Why can I go to places like Thailand,Belize, Cayman Islands, etc. and buy what are prescription only drugs here and get them over the counter for much less money?  I live in Florida, we get tons of Canadian visitors here over the winter and they all go through storefront pharmacies to get their drugs shipped in from Canada because our pharmacies charge through the nose for them.  Follow the money.

Don't fool yourself. Are the auto-injectors easier? Sure they are, but Migraineurs are capable of drawing up meds in a syringe and using them, and the generic manufacturers know it. It's been happening with DHE since 1945. But, they can make a larger profit from auto-injectors.

Drugs in Europe and Asia haven't been through the clincial trials that new drugs here must complete. I'd bet that if the trials were shorter, and the drugs ended up injuring people, you'd be upset about that. Everyone would be. As it is, our trials don't catch everything. Look at the drugs that have been removed from the market.

Oh, and you can go to those places and buy generics from Canada because they don't honor US patents. That's one reason our meds are so high priced in the first place.

If you have ideas of other ways to pay for drug development, I'd seriously love to hear them. Don't forget, that when we pay for meds, we're also paying the research and development for the drugs that never make it to market. Why? Because our government doesn't pay for that research and development. It's all left on the shoulders of the pharma company. We expect them to keep developing new drugs, then we complain about the prices. We can't have it both ways.

Follow the money indeed. Ask why so very little of our tax money goes into medical research.

Teri