As Valcyte is an antiviral drug that is now commonly being prescribed to treat ME/ME-CFIDS by a range of physicians I'm thinking we need a thread to help people access the drug as affordably & reliably as possible. As I've just learned it one thing to get a diagnosis and even a doctors prescription but a whole new thing actually trying to actually get the drug for a price that doesn't require us to mortgage our homes.
Now I will mention quickly that this is not a do-it-yourself drug that you can take unsupervised. It does require close liver, kidney & blood count monitoring by a trained medical doctor.
In case you're not aware the drug has recently come of patent but there are still issues in trying to access generic brands. For instance in Australia I'm assuming that generic brands have not been approved yet as they are not available in any pharmacy store. There is also no government subsidy to cover some of the cost of the medicine.
To take the drug at a dose of 900mg twice daily as some doctors suggest can cost over $4000 per month if a patient is buying the Patent (Roche) brand. Typically Valcyte treatment duration is often continued for at least 6 months possibly 1 year. So cost is going to be a big issue for many.
Indian companies are manufacturing generic versions of the drug - Cipla produce one such brand and in some cases are selling on online pharmacies for a fraction of the price of the Patent brand. I've heard it suggested that some of these companies may have been breaching the patent laws because most Indians were unable to afford the drug at the Patent price - so there's an ethical argument there.
Anyway if you have experience with buying Valcyte and have found sources of the medicine for reasonable prices please share that information here. This may include reliable online pharmacies or buying the medicine at pharmacy shops in particular countries that market the drug at a lower cost than the US - I'd like to hear from any Canadians or Europeans on here.
The cheapest I have seen is http://www.alldaychemist.com/valgan.html as noted by PR member Heapsreal in another thread. I'm marking this thread to be specifically used by those who are using Valcyte and have found an affordable reliable source or those who are seeking help access the drug so please stay on topic.
Now I will mention quickly that this is not a do-it-yourself drug that you can take unsupervised. It does require close liver, kidney & blood count monitoring by a trained medical doctor.
In case you're not aware the drug has recently come of patent but there are still issues in trying to access generic brands. For instance in Australia I'm assuming that generic brands have not been approved yet as they are not available in any pharmacy store. There is also no government subsidy to cover some of the cost of the medicine.
To take the drug at a dose of 900mg twice daily as some doctors suggest can cost over $4000 per month if a patient is buying the Patent (Roche) brand. Typically Valcyte treatment duration is often continued for at least 6 months possibly 1 year. So cost is going to be a big issue for many.
Indian companies are manufacturing generic versions of the drug - Cipla produce one such brand and in some cases are selling on online pharmacies for a fraction of the price of the Patent brand. I've heard it suggested that some of these companies may have been breaching the patent laws because most Indians were unable to afford the drug at the Patent price - so there's an ethical argument there.
Anyway if you have experience with buying Valcyte and have found sources of the medicine for reasonable prices please share that information here. This may include reliable online pharmacies or buying the medicine at pharmacy shops in particular countries that market the drug at a lower cost than the US - I'd like to hear from any Canadians or Europeans on here.
The cheapest I have seen is http://www.alldaychemist.com/valgan.html as noted by PR member Heapsreal in another thread. I'm marking this thread to be specifically used by those who are using Valcyte and have found an affordable reliable source or those who are seeking help access the drug so please stay on topic.
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