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Not sure what this means - Regarding Valcyte

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
That said it sounds like other generic brands of Valcyte will soon be made available
The prices for both the Indian generic of Valcyte and another generic can be found on one of the Valcyte threads here.

Sushi
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
@redaxe I am confused by this b/c there is already a generic available in U.S. Pharmacies of Valcyte made by Qualitest. This is the only one my insurance would pay for and Qualitest has a horrible track record with product recalls and contaminated products and lawsuits.

Needless to say I declined and am taking the brand version by Genentech/Roche. The only other option I had heard of was Cipla an Indian company. So this is confusing!
 

August59

Daughters High School Graduation
Messages
1,617
Location
Upstate SC, USA
I believe that it was the "production facility" that caused the failure of this company to supply a FDA approved generic in the US. This company may very well be supplying generic Valcyte in other countries already.
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
I heard last year that Valcyte was going off patent (or whatever the medicine equivalent is) in 2015. It makes sense that generics will be available shortly afterwards.

@SOC and others, it must already be off patent since the Qualitest version is already available in U.S. pharmacies. This is what confused me!
 

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
@SOC and others, it must already be off patent since the Qualitest version is already available in U.S. pharmacies. This is what confused me!
Sure enough, my daughter refilled her Valcyte prescription this week and the mail-order pharmacy associated with our insurance sent the Qualitest generic valgancyclovir, not the name brand Valcyte.

The bad news is, they charged us the same amount we'd been paying for the name brand. :mad: I'm going to have to look into that.

I'm not happy to hear @Gingergrrl's report that Qualitest has such an abysmal track record.
 

zzz

Senior Member
Messages
675
Location
Oregon
I'm not happy to hear @Gingergrrl's report that Qualitest has such an abysmal track record.

I wouldn't buy cough drops from Qualitest, much less Valcyte. Here are the excerpts from an article I originally sent to @Gingergrrl. It was the first thing that popped up when I Googled "Qualitest quality":
Qualitest Expands in Light of Product Recalls
Endo says it will expand capacity at its generic manufacturing subsidiary Qualitest in light of quality lapses and product recall.



Fourth quarter figures were lower than expected and McHugh said this was driven, in part, by a
recall of Hydrocodone products” which significantly added to “back orders of approximately $15 million worth of potential sales.

Endo Pharmaceuticals acquired Qualitest in 2010, just a year after the manufacturer had voluntarily
recalled a batch of insulin syringes due to defects in the drug delivery device.

Further issues with production and packaging have since caused recalls resulting in loss of sales and, with the case of an oral contraceptive drug defect,
a series of lawsuits from women who unintentionally fell pregnant.

This publication received no response from either Qualitest or Endo with regards to quality issues and the ensuing lawsuits.

Instead, if you can afford it, I would recommending buying the Cipla generic Valgan direct from AllDayChemist. Cipla’s bulk manufacturing facilities have been FDA approved for thirty years now, and they undergo regular FDA inspections. They are a top quality generic drug manufacturer. At 900 mg/day, their generic Valgan costs $360/month from AllDayChemist. It typically costs much more from other pharmacies.
 
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SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
I wouldn't buy cough drops from Qualitest, much less Valcyte. Here are the excerpts from an article I originally sent to @Gingergrrl. It was the first thing that popped up when I Googled "Qualitest quality":


Instead, if you can afford it, I would recommending buying the Cipla generic Valgan direct from AllDayChemist. Cipla’s bulk manufacturing facilities have been FDA approved for thirty years now, and they undergo regular FDA inspections. They are a top quality generic drug manufacturer. At 900 mg/day, their generic Valgan costs $360/month from AllDayChemist. It typically costs much more from other pharmacies.
That's disturbing. :( Do you know anything about the reliability of that website -- in-pharmatechnologist, or the author of the article?

I'm eager for a generic Valcyte, but not if I'm going to pay the same price as the brand name version and not if it's poor quality.
 

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
I'm eager for a generic Valcyte, but not if I'm going to pay the same price as the brand name version and not if it's poor quality.

Hey! Good news for people who need Valcyte but can't afford it! When the dust settled, our insurance-associated pharmacy only charged us $20 for 90 days of Valcyte. That is not going to be true for everyone, but if you have a policy like ours with a standard price for any generic, this is huge. :thumbsup:

Now let's hope the generic works as well as the brand. :cautious: