13 Oct Generic Multiple Sclerosis Drug Found Equivalent To Brand Medication

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Jeffrey Cohen MD
Director
Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research
Director of the Experimental Therapeutics Program
Cleveland Clinic Main Campus

MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Dr. Cohen: Medications are a major contributor to the high cost of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) care.  As medications go off patent, there is the opportunity to develop generic versions with lower cost.  This trial was conducted after extensive in vitro and animal studies supported the equivalence of a generic glatiramer acetate to the brand drug Copaxone. The trial showed that generic and brand glatiramer acetate have equivalent efficacy as measured by MRI and clinical endpoints, safety, and tolerability.

MedicalResearch: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Cohen: These results should reassure patients and prescribers that the generic glatiramer acetate tested in our trial is equivalent to Copaxone.

MedicalResearch: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Cohen: As other multiple sclerosis disease therapies go off patent studies to assess generic versions should be pursued.  Our study provides a blueprint for how to conduct those studies.

Citation:

Dr. Jeffrey Cohen MD (2015). Generic Multiple Sclerosis Drug Found Equivalent To Brand Medication 

Last Updated on October 13, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD