Costs of Famciclovir in different European Countries

[Wonkmonk]

Hello everyone,

after trying all the vitamins and supplements you can think of for several years, last year I learned about Dr. Lerner's protocol for treating elevated Herpes virus titers in CFS patients (I have positive EBV EA and very high HSV-1 titers).

So, to keep it short here (long version can be found in my introduction) in January I started Valacyclovir 6 grams per day and it seemed to work quite well until two weeks ago when I developed kidney injury (despite drinking really a lot) - CFR down to 65, serum Creatinine elevated. Urinalysis still OK, though.

Thus I had to stop Valacyclovir and thought about switching to Famciclovir, which Dr. Lerner suggests for patients with renal toxicity (there are also a few studies in pubmed who switched Val to Fam successfully after renal injury).

The problem is, I was shocked to learn that the price for one day of treatment at 6 grams per day in Germany where I live is €250. (Valacyclovir is about €900 a month)

So my question is if there are other users from other European countries who could kindly tell me if it might be cheaper elsewhere in Europe. I thought especially about the UK, because the pound went down a bit in the last few months

A German prescription is valid throughout the EU and I have relatives who could travel within Europe and go to a local pharmacy to buy a larger amount for several weeks. With a cheap flight, it would still save me a fortune.

Hopefully, I find a way to get Famciclovir, because the antivirals really worked well so far.

I look forward to hearing your views!

 

[Vojta]

@Wonkmonk Generic Valaciclovir (Mylan) costs about 45€ for 42x500mg box in the Czech Republic. It is about 385€ a month (for 6g a day)? I can't find Famciclovir now but you can check prices of marketed drugs here yourself: http://www.sukl.eu/modules/medication/search.php
But it must be sold here too. Anyway I found that in Slovakia Famciklovir (TEva) 500mgx14 box costs 47,7€ which means appx 1226€ a month I think.

 

[Wonkmonk]

Vojta, many thanks for responding so quickly!

That would be a huge saving! 21 tablets Famciclovir 500mg in Germany are at over €400 vs. €47 x 14 tablets in Slovakia.

Do you have any idea why it isn't available in CZ (would be a much shorter drive from Germany)?

 

[Vojta]

Do you get original brand in Germany or the price is is for generic stuff? Generics should be much cheaper than that.
You could try email pharmacies here if they can order Famciclovir and for prices. They usually take EU prescription without problems. Sometimes pharmacies can even import stuff which isn't here. But I found instructions from famciclovir in czech online I just cant find it on the official site. Maybe it's just glitch if it is registered in EU it should be on the site.

 

[Wonkmonk]

Sadly, yes, the €400 is the price for the generic version, e.g., from Hexal which only produces generics.

I checked both online (e.g., Docmorris) and in my local pharmacy. It was always ~€400 whatever the producer is.

Of course, the more dubious online pharmacies have it cheaper from India, but that's not something I want to do. I'd rather get it locally from Eastern Europe than online from China or India.

 

[Hip]

www.buy-pharma.co sell famciclovir 500 mg x 30 for $90. Buy-pharma are a good and reliable pharmacy.

 

[Wonkmonk]

Hip, thanks for the suggestion, found some good reviews online for that website, too.

Do you happen to know what the price is in a local UK pharmacy?

If it's only possible online, fine with me, but generally I'd prefer getting it from a brick-and-mortar store if the difference in price isn't too great.

 

[Hip]

Do you happen to know what the price is in a local UK pharmacy?

I am not sure, but this UK online pharmacy sells famciclovir 500 mg x 14 for £110, so I imagine a UK local brick and mortar pharmacy will sell at a similar price.

Here is a list of UK online pharmacies (some of these may also operate a bricks and mortar store).

And here are some large company UK online pharmacies:

www.lloydspharmacy.com
www.chemistdirect.co.uk
www.pharmacy2u.co.uk
www.pharmacyfirst.co.uk
www.boots.com
www.assetchemist.co.uk
www.clearchemist.co.uk

All of the above will require a prescription.

But if you want to save money, and get a cheaper product at a reliable prescription-free online international pharmacy, see this post. I use these prescription-free pharmacies myself all the time.

 

[Wonkmonk]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Some of those links look quite good indeed.

Thankfully, my blood tests came back ok this week. GFR is up to 108 and liver values have also recovered. Doctor is now thinking I might have had small kidney stones bc calcium oxalate crystals were found in my urine sample. So perhaps the renal impairment wasn't primarily caused by Valacyclovir.

So, luckily, for now, I can restart Valacyclovir at a lower dose and hopefully won't need the much more expensive Famciclovir.