Dr. Reddy's Launches Authorized Generic Version of Imitrex * Tablets

Yes, the generic is out, now instead of paying $210.00 for my wife's migraine medicine, i can say a whopping $40.00 - THE GENERIC PRICE IS $170.00 for the 100 MG TABLETS.

It's Thanksgiving and I just got word from my pharmacy that Imitrex went generic 2 days ago. I give thanks!!! Each 100mg tablet was about $20 before and I would cringe everytime I had to pay for it at the pharmacy. What a huge relief!!!

Check the "generic imitrex...myth or fact?" for a legit source (from the U.K.) for generic at actual generic prices. AssetChemist.com has sumatriptan at a fraction of the price you mention.

Sorry, it's http://www.assetchemist.co.uk/

search for sumatriptan, go to bottom of page.

Seriously? I heard that that Smith Kline got a extension from the FDA and that the generic imitrex can not be sold until sometime in 09 in the U.S.?
If it is being sold here now, is the generic really only $50 cheaper? Wow, that was worth the wait. What a ripoff! I live in Arizona and if I drive across the border to Mexico, I can get it for $2 a tablet. Same med, same packaging, everything. Anybody hear what the price will be for the injections? Or isn't that included in the patent release for a generic?

I picked up the generic yesterday with a $15 copay, but was told that the cash price is still over $200 from Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh.

But the sad news is that it does not work for me. No relief after 2 50mg tablets, whereas with Imitrex, one would suffice with no side effects. I had awful side effects from "Dr. Reddy's" sumatriptan.

I also hate paying so much per pill, but it works wonders. Sigh.

I started taking the generic yesterday. It took 2 50mg pills to even touch my pain. Have had to take 1 pill every 6 hours to keep my migraine in check. That has never been the case with Imitrex. I'm scaried. Dont know if this is an unusual migraine or this is the results of a poor substitute.

Started the generic 50mg tabs last week and can't tell the difference. Works exactly the same as Imitrex did, except that it is a $14.00 co-pay instead of $78.00 now.

To Gary.... Injections are available in 4mg and 6mg kits (also refills) at Walgreens where I got the Tabs. Sav-on and Rite-Aid probably carry them too.

What y'all (yes, from texas) have to realize/remember is that when any drug goes generic (besides a few drugs-terbinafine being one exception), the prize is almost ALWAYS just a little under the brand name price when not using insurance. Give it some time, look at zoloft prices. It has not been that long since sertraline was let out on the market, but the prices have now dropped considerably from the initial cost. The other thing is that whichever company gets the generic out first in US has a "6 month exclusivity", meaning they have a half year patent on selling the generic. As in the case of Lotrel, novartis just produced its own generic to extend their patent 6 months, and -what do you know - the generic pills are exactly the same, color, markings and all to the brand name. What's sad is that people thought the generic didn't work as well: It was the SAME FRE*#$^KING PILL. anywhoo -

The generic I get from the UK is manufactured by Dr. Reddy's. It's still considerably less than $2/pill. URL is in the earlier post above. Sounds like they are trying to lap up every possible bit of profit they can extract from the drug (at the expense of migraineurs all over the country). Why not just order it from the UK, if your co-pay is still more than the whole prescription would be from there??

Instead of paying $47 for eight tablets my insurance pays 75%)- I paid $44. I saved a whopping $3.00! I get to buy a gallon and a half of gasoline!!!! Yippee! Generic supposed to also mean lower pricing - I don't see it.

My daughter was in Mexico last year..she is getting ready to go again next week...she tried to get the imitrex pills and was told they didn't have them in Mexico....do have to ask specifically for Sumariptain Succinate tablets?

I have used Imitrex for about 5 years with nearly 100% success, within 2 hours. Last week my prescription was converted over to the generic Dr. Reedy's version. I had an attack this afternoon. After taking a 100mg does of the generic, I suffered for 5 hours with absolutely no relief. Out of desparation, I took a brand name Imitrex at 50mg, within 2 hours I had full relief. I have no more migrain, but I am a little worse for wear after 7 hours with the nausia and throbbing.

How can they this crap? Shouldn't it be against the law or at least insurance fraud?

The Generic was not effective for me. Three of four times I had to take two 100mg tablets and didn't feel well when the meds were in my system

To reiterate what Pharm Tech said earlier, the reason prices haven't come down significantly is that when a drug initially goes off patent, only one company is given the rights to sell the generic version of the drug. Thus, they lower the drug price a little bit so that people will want their drug rather than the brand-name but keep the prices up so that they can make a sizable profit. After that first six months, though, the rights to sell the drug become available to everyone, and if companies bite (which I suspect they will because these meds are a pretty big business), the prices should come way down.
As for people having problems with the generic not working, it is true that the generic should essentially be the same drug as the brand name. But sometimes generic drugs are formulated differently (same chemicals combined a bit differently), and this can occasionally (albeit rarely) make a difference in how the generic works vs. the brand name. I don't know anything about the new generic or how it's been formulated so it could be exactly the same as Glaxo's version, but I read an article a while ago (sorry I can't reference it) that talked about how even though the drug itself was going off patent, the "fast release" formulation Glaxo developed is still exclusively theirs. So if the new generic doesn't have that, it could be that the generic won't work or at least be as effective for some people.

Bev,

I'm not sure the answer to this, but it's possible she may need to ask for the generic exclusively. I also think it's possible that it's just not available in Mexico. I was in Africa over the summer and used my Imitrex pills a couple of times when I had migraines. The doctors I was working with there were very curious about my Imitrex because they had never seen migraine meds before because they never treat migraines. Africa's access to drugs is quite a bit different than Mexico's, but if there's not a demand for the drug (ie - people usually only go to the doctor when it's an emergency), they may just not have them available.

Also, I used to live near the border and bought drugs occasionally from pharmacies in Mexico. You have to be careful because a lot of the "cheap" drugs they sell are really expired American drugs. So it could also be that Imitrex is in high enough demand that it doesn't sit around long enough to expire and get discarded and then make it into the hands of the Mexican market.

http://forum.blinkyou.com/showthread.php...

Tablets Imitrex 50mg

The generic barely took the edge off my migraine. My insurance requires me to pay the difference between the two, $52 vs. $15. I will pay more for relief but I will have to fight my insurance company to fill in less than 30 days. I may see if I can get a`new prescription for the Imitrex + naproxene to be able to obtain migraine relief.

My wife just received her Imitrex prescription yesterday, but instead of the genuine Imitrex our prescription service substituted the "Dr. Reddy" generic. This stuff is produced by a company located in India and was manufactured in Singapore, two countries which, no doubt, have little or no real controls or protections in place for prescription drugs.
After seeing the problems with poison baby formula, lead painted toys, etc. coming into our country with little or no safeguards for the health of American consumers there is no way she is going to use this "Third World" produced drug.
They went into the trash and a new presciption of genuine Imitrex is being ordered. The saving of a few dollars is not worth the potential risk. Besides, based upon some of the foregoing comments, it doesn't sound like this generic really works anyway. What do you suppose is actually in these tablets?

i have been put on so many prescriptions for migraines - after a double fusion in my neck and brain surgery, and brain surgery. com to find out my right occipital nerve was severely damaged. So now they put in a nerve stimulator - what i am getting at is i have a laundry list 1 and 1/2 boxes of imitrex etc - if any one is interested in talking to me drop me a line mystoreisopen@yahoo.com