HIV and ID Observations

June 20th, 2012

Abacavir Becomes the Latest Generic Antiretroviral Agent

Hot on the heels of generic nevirapine comes generic abacavir: On June 18, 2012, FDA granted approval for a generic formulation of abacavir tablets, 300 mg, manufactured by Mylan Pharmaceuticals, indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. FDA has determined that the generic formulation is bioequivalent and, therefore, therapeutically equivalent to the […]

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January 22nd, 2012

Generic Lamivudine Has Arrived

An e-mail from a patient last week: Just got refills. Epivir is now generic???  Refill is simply labeled Lamivudine Tablets by Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc …but made in India.  Should I be concerned about that??? John I told John (not his real name) not to be concerned — he is merely substituting the generic for the […]

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June 24th, 2011

Reflections on Levofloxacin as it Goes Generic

With the news that a generic form of levofloxacin has just been approved by the FDA, some thoughts about this remarkable antibiotic: When it was first approved in 1996, levofloxacin was the first oral antibiotic that really covered all common causes of community acquired pneumonia. Strep pneumo, H flu, mycoplasma, legionella, chlamydia — check, check, check, […]

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May 26th, 2011

Surprise! It’s Generic Combivir!

After last week’s unveiling of the new NNRTI rilpivirine, now we have a different kind of drug approval from the FDA: FDA granted approval for a generic formulation fixed dose combination of lamivudine and zidovudine tablets, 150 mg/300 mg, two nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors, indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of […]

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December 28th, 2009

Holiday Surprise: Generic Valacyclovir

Last week one of my patients went to refill a Valtrex prescription, and was offered generic valacyclovir for the first time.  It made him nervous, so he requested I write a “brand-name only” script. I confess the existence of a generic formulation of valacyclovir — which according to the PharmD here has been available for several […]

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