An IPRP survey of the regulatory requirements for the waiver of in vivo bioequivalence studies of generic medicinal products in certain dosage forms

Submitted: 14 May 2021; Revised: 14 May 2021; Accepted: 3 June 2021; Published online first: 10 June 2021 Medicines regulatory authorities aim to address rising healthcare costs and promote access to medicines worldwide through review and approval of quality generic drug products that are interchangeable with the corresponding reference medicinal product. The Bioequivalence Working Group […]


Repurposing non-oncology drugs for cancer treatment

Submitted: 15 March 2021; Revised: 17 March 2021; Accepted: 18 March 2021; Published online first: 24 March 2021 Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world today. The development of new drugs can reduce death rates, but these products are extremely expensive in terms of development time and money. This has […]


Regulatory requirements for the acceptance of foreign comparator products in the participants of the International Generic Drug Regulators Programme

Submitted: 4 March 2019; Revised: 25 April 2019; Accepted: 27 April 2019; Published online first: 30 April 2019 The availability of quality generic drug products plays an increasingly important role in promoting access to medicines worldwide and in helping to address rising healthcare costs. This, however, has led to significant pressures on medicines regulatory authorities […]


US generic prescription drug markets 2004‒2016

Submitted: 6 December 2018; Revised: 12 December 2018; Accepted: 14 December 2018; Published online first: 19 December 2018 Generic drugs are currently central to disease treatment in the US. However, recent policy concerns have focussed on generics supply inadequacies and the perceived increase in prices of some generic drug products. To further explore the changing […]


How does generic drug policy affect market prices?

Submitted: 21 November 2018; Revised: 22 November 2018; Accepted: 28 November 2018; Published online first: 4 December 2018 A study published by the World Health Organization (WHO) compares the effect of different pricing policies for generic medicines in four countries [1]. Using atorvastatin as a case study, their results show that price cuts combined with […]


EU risk-sharing agreements between 2000−2015

Submitted: 20 June 2018; Revised: 14 August 2018; Accepted: 18 August 2018; Published online first: 31 August 2018 The ageing population, longer life expectancies, and the increasing cost of drugs are expected to significantly increase the burden on healthcare systems in the coming years. To reduce this burden and increase access to new, innovative and […]


A call for coherence in EU legislation to promote generics

Submitted: 6 May 2018; Revised: 7 May 2018; Accepted: 8 May 2018; Published online first: 18 May 2018 Data and market exclusivity for originator medicines in the European Union (EU) create a barrier to market entry for generic medicines. Legislation means that generics cannot reach the market for at least 10 years following the originator […]


Barriers to generics policy reform: a US case study

Submitted: 29 December 2017; Revised: 5 January 2018; Accepted: 12 January 2018; Published online first: 19 January 2018 A recent comparison of generic drug markets [1] explores the history of generics substitution and bioequivalence policies in the US, in order to understand the barriers to implementing reform of generic drug policies. The history of generics […]


Randomized non-inferiority trial fails to find inferiority switching from infliximab originator to CT-P13 biosimilar

Submitted: 17 November 2017; Revised: 20 November 2017; Accepted: 22 November 2017; Published online first: 5 December 2017 The tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor infliximab is known to significantly improve the treatment of inflammatory autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis. The high cost of biological originators, however, has meant that […]


A comparison of European and US generic drug markets

Submitted: 19 June 2017; Revised: 5 September 2017; Accepted: 6 September 2017; Published online first: 19 September 2017 Introduction Comparative research on the European and US generic drug markets based on 2013 IMS data across 13 European countries with different generic drug policies has recently been accepted for publication in the Milbank Quarterly [1], and […]


‘To prescribe generics is to play with the life of the patient’: misconceptions of generics in Guatemala

Submitted: 13 September 2017; Revised: 17 September 2017; Accepted: 18 September 2017; Published online first: 25 September 2017 Both pharmacists and doctors in Guatemala lack trust in generic medicines, according to a study carried out by a local non-governmental organization (NGO) [1]. The authors make recommendations for increasing generics uptake, including changing dispensing practices and […]


Generic prices estimated for four novel cancer drugs

Submitted: 13 March 2017; Revised: 15 March 2017; Accepted: 16 March 2017; Published online first: 29 March 2017 Generic drug manufacturing of four major cancer drugs could massively reduce their costs to the National Health Service in the UK, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal [1]. The study shows that generics […]