Check out this story: GSK Dupes Migraine Sufferers

By palproject Friday, April 25, 2008

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Hi Folks,

I'd like to share with you a story that was recently posted on the Prescription Access Litigation Blog entitled "GlaxoSmithKline sets out to dupe migraine sufferers with Treximet smoke and mirrors."

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) sells a popular brand-name prescription drug for migraines, Imitrex. 2007 U.S. sales of Imitrex were $1.12 billion, making it a "blockbuster" in drug industry parlance. A single pill of Imitrex costs about $25.

Well, $1.12 billion in annual sales is too good to just give up, right? Even if Imitrex's patent is expiring next February? Not surprisingly, then, Glaxo has done a number of things to keep a generic version of Imitrex (sumatriptan) off the pharmacy shelves:

Later this year, Glaxo will begin selling an "authorized generic" version of Imitrex. Authorized generics really should be called "fake" generics, because they're most often not generics at all, but the company's own pill technically sold by a different company, under a license. In this case, the licensee is Dr. Reddy's, a generic drug company that originally challenged Glaxo's Imitrex patent and then settled when Glaxo sued them for patent infringement.
Also later this year (December 2008), Ranbaxy, another generic drug maker, will also begin selling a generic version of Imitrex. Again, this stems from a settlement between Glaxo and the generic maker.

Great, right? Two generic versions of Imitrex will be available by the end of the year! Huzzah! A victory for patients, right?

Not so fast! You don't think Glaxo is going to let its billion dollar baby leave home so easily, do you?

Introducing GSK's Treximet! Treximet was just approved by the FDA for acute treatment of migraines in adults.

Is Treximet a fabulous new breakthrough treatment for migraines?

Umm... No.

It is a combination of Imitrex (soon to be available as a generic) and naproxen sodium (commonly known as Aleve, available Over the Counter).

Comments (7) | Add comment

Louisa

4/26/08 2:27am

"Story" is certainly a good word. Perhaps propaganda would be better.

Are you a migraineur? Have you ever felt as if your head were about to explode and had Imitrex STOP the pain, vomiting, nausea, horrid oversensitivity to light and sound? I seriously doubt it.

I'm so sick and tired of people like you and the others in your little organization who get off on bashing the pharmaceutical companies. If they weren't there, perhaps you'd change your tune. Who do you think would step in and do the research to develop new drugs? If for darned sure it wouldn't be the government. They aren't even adequately funding the basic science research that needs to be done BEFORE new types of drugs can be developed. Ever wonder why there are seven triptans? Why there aren't more different types of meds for acute migraine treatment? Because the NIH isn't adequately or proportionately funding headache and migraine research.

Here's a little challenge for you -- go visit a site run by one of the experts here, the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy. Here are a few hard facts from their site:

Headache disorders cause more than 1 percent of all disability and 9 percent of all lost labor in the US every year.
Migraine alone is the 12^th most disabling disorder in the US.
Headache disorders are the most prevalent neurological disorders, affecting more than 90% of all Americans.
The US annual direct and indirect economic costs of headache disorders exceed $31 billion.
The NIH expended less than $10 million in 2006 towards all research on headache disorders, comprising less than 0.05 percent of its total budget.

Oh, yeah! Less than half of one percent of the NIH budget to research ALL headache disorders when migraine alone is the 12th most disabling disorder in the U.S.

So, keep your consipiracy theories until YOU have a way to fund research and get us better treatments!

Louisa

Teri Robert, Health Guide

4/26/08 5:39am

I have to say that I agree with much of what Louisa said.

Let me add a few things...

Who CARES if the authorized generic form that GSK sells is the GSK product. Reddy tried to manufacture and sell a generic before the expiration of the Imitrex patent. GSK was well withing their rights to sue for patent infringement.

So what if GSK wants to produce a new product containing sumatriptan. Nobody is going to hold a gun to anyone's head to force them to use it. If patients want sumatriptan plus naproxen, but don't want to buy Treximet, they'll be free to use a generic sumatriptan plus OTC naproxen.

What's your real gripe here? Patients will have choices.

A price of $25 is actually a small price to pay to abort a Migraine and relieve its symptoms. We could still live in the dark ages when the only choice was opioids, a dark room, quiet, and prayers for sleep. I lived through those days and have glaucoma with a 50% vision loss to show for it because of the years of just getting through Migraines along with the increased intraocular pressure that goes with them. There's a far higher price to Migraines than the $$ for treatment.

Teri

Louisa

6/14/08 12:37pm

Yeah, you wanted to share your propaganda with us. Then, when you were challenged, you tucked your tail and ran. How typical.

Louisa

Leslie

9/ 5/08 11:38am

I was extremely skeptical about GSK's new medication, Treximet. I use Imitrex and considered GSK's adding naprosyn to it to be just their way of extending high priced sales.

My doctor told me they have found that Treximet does work well and he gave me a sample. Well, it did work well for me. Then, when I checked my mail order prescription drug company's price for it, I found it was exactly the same as they charge me for regular Imitrex.

Treximet is not a cure. I still must rely on other medications to help with my episodes. Yet, I am pleased that it works a bit better than Imitrex. When Imitrex goes generic, I will try it along with naprosyn (the OTC medication found in Aleve). Hopefully, that will work well and I'll begin to save money.

So, please, don't forget to ask for samples from your doctors. If you have mail order prescription coverage, be sure to check out their price for all your drugs (I know so many people who avoid mail order). Good luck to all the migraineurs out there.

Teri Robert, Health Guide

9/ 5/08 12:25pm

Leslie,

I really don't understand why anyone is upset about Treximet. Nobody is forcing anyone to use it. It doens't extend the patents on Imitrex. All this does is add another tool to Migraineurs' abortive arsenal, another choice for us.

So what if GSK makes profits from it? Pharmaceutical companies aren't governmental agencies or nonprofit organizations. They're publicly traded companies expected by their shareholders to make profits. It's not as if the government is rushing to do research and develop treatments for us. They're not. They don't even fund enough basic research about Migraine, its causes, and its pathophysiology.

No, Treximet is not a cure. Neither is anything else we have. And we will never have a cure unless there is more research funding.

Teri

Dennis

10/22/08 8:36am

I am very glad to read the initial post here because there's too little information about what is going on with the sumatriptan patent. (I will not call it "Imitrex" -- that's the brand name -- it's simply sumatriptan.) GSK has made over $1 billion on this drug (hundreds of them from me since 1993) from people who suffer from migraines and (in my case) cluster headaches. Simply stated: the patent has (or is about to) expire and it's time other companies be given the opportunity to make money off sumatriptan. That's the way the patent system works. I just saw an advertisement on TV for Treximet and my first thought was: what's this crap? Now I know: GSK is just trying to repackage their Imitrex product as something "better" so, under prodding from patients, physicians will not write prescriptions for generic sumatriptan. Bottom line: buy generic sumatriptan -- it's the exact same thing as Imitrex at a fraction of the cost!!

Teri Robert, Health Guide

10/22/08 9:10pm

Dennis,

Maybe you can help me here. I still can't understand why you and others are upset about Treximet. Is anyone holding a gun to your head to get you to use it? Introducing Treximet doesn't change the expiration of the patents on Imitrex. It doesn't keep generic manufacturers from coming out with generics. They're free to start selling their generics as soon as the patent expires and they have the final FDA approval. Many of the generic manufacturers already have their tentative approvals so final approval will be quick.

It's entirely possible that sumatriptan and naproxen bound together in a single tablet is more effective for some people. What's wrong with that? Some people will have an additional option. Would you deny a Migraineur an opportunity for effective treatment?

Bottom line -- The introduction of Treximet changes NOTHING about the release of generics. So what are people going on about? There is no generic sumatriptan available in the US yet. Don't sell Migraineurs short. Once the generics are available, many of us will be asking for prescriptions for sumatriptan.

Teri

Check out this story: GSK Dupes Migraine Sufferers

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