Mutual and the Obama administration want that protection extended to the design of the drug, since the generic is an exact copy of the brand-name drug that has already been approved by the federal government.
Experts estimate that the average rebate for a brand-name drug in 2011 reaches 40%.
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More risky are cases where generic drugs are not functionally equivalent to the brand-name drug.
Taking advantage of advances in technology, some of the new products may even be better than the original, brand-name drug.
For the first time in years, the bags handed out to doctors here at the ACC meeting are not branded with any drug or company name.
If there's no exact generic equivalent to the brand-name drug that you are taking, there may be similar drugs in the same class that are close enough.
But a Consumer Reports analysis found that the FDA was as likely to warn about manufacturing issues at a brand-name drug factory as a generic one, Dr. Santa says.
Such lawsuits are strengthened if the brand-name drug company files a new patent covering, say, the colour of the pill bottle just before the main patent is about to expire.
According to the 2010 RBC Capital Markets study, when trial victories, settlements between drugmakers and dropped cases are combined, generic companies were able to bring their product to market before the brand-name drug's patent expired in 76 percent of the 371 drug patent suits decided from 2000 through 2009.
Doctors say the drug, whose generic name is Propofol, can lead to cardiac arrest when the heart abruptly stops.
That's good news for Andrx, which hopes to sell its delayed-release lovastatin as a new drug under the brand name Altocor.
The drug Mylotarg, generic name Gemtuzumab ozogamicin, was FDA-approved for post-remission treatment of AML in patients over age 60 several years ago.
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In particular, Pfizer is dealing with pressure to come up with more successful new drugs as its big name cholesterol drug Lipitor loses its patent protection in 2011.
Pfizer ( PFE - news - people ) is dealing with pressure to come up with more successful new drugs as its big name cholesterol drug Lipitor loses its patent protection in 2011.
So filling in that -- what's commonly known as -- ironically, in health care -- the doughnut hole, about -- that up to 50 percent of the name brand -- the price for that name brand drug would be paid for, and I think that provides a hefty discount that will bear appreciable benefits for seniors all over the country.
Ask the prescribing doctor the name of the drug, the correct dosage, and what it is for.
Seeing the chemical's potential for on-site testing and its appeal to a wider market, the company, then called U.S. Drug Testing, changed its name.
The matter became urgent last month following Bayer's withdrawal of an anti-cholesterol drug, marketed under the name Lipobay in Germany and Baycol almost everywhere else.
The family statement also appeals for donations in Eva Rausing's name to a drug awareness and treatment fund, or to the UK charity Action on Addiction, which she supported.
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Television advertisements can now name a prescription drug and its use, provided they describe the chief risks and refer consumers to further information, including a toll-free number and website.
Invokana has been subject to intense scrutiny and speculation because last year a similar drug, Forxiga (generic name dapagliflozin), developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb in partnership with AstraZeneca, was rejected by the FDA. The reason for the rejection was concern over liver damage and cancer risk, specifically breast cancer and bladder cancer.
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The drug, sold under the brand name Aredia, was originally used to treat bone complications caused by breast cancer and multiple myeloma.
Two men being held in other cases gave them the name of an unemployed drug addict named David Ranta, who was eventually tracked down by Scarcella.
Glaxo Wellcome glx (nyse: glx - news - people) tried the same thing with its antidepressant drug buproprion in 1997, a drug it has sold under the name Wellbutrin since 1987.
The 6, 000-patient study was designed to show that AtheroGenics' drug, known by the code name AGI-1067, decreased the risk not only of heart attack, stroke and death but also of less important heart problems, including stent procedures, bypass surgery and chest pain.
Now those studies are complete and today t he drug has been approved, with the name Kadcyla.
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The only losers were patients who have had to keep paying much higher prices for their name-brand-only drug.
The drug, azithromycin, sells under the name Zithromax or Zmax and is commonly sold in what's called a Z-Pak.
The drug Diprivan, known by its generic name Propofol, is administered intravenously in operating rooms as a general anesthetic.
Left unanswered in the FDA's latest guidelines is whether the bio-knockoffs can use the same name as the original brand drug.
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