Taking Copaxone? Expect a Call in the Coming Weeks

By Trevis Gleason

Published Jan 31, 2014

First and foremost let me say how much I absolutely abhor getting my MS pharmaceutical information via business and investment news flashes.  Such was the case when I typed “FDA Copaxone formulation” into my search engine this morning.

The first full page of results was from investment sites, business analysis reviews, and pharma industry pages.  I’ve grown used to getting much of my MS drug news from such sources, but today was the straw that broke this camel with MS’s back.

First, huzzah! People living with MS now have another choice in medication dosing. Particularly good for patients who hate needles is this new option of injection Copaxone three-times per week (at 40ml/dose) rather than every day (20ml). For those who like their drug the way it is,  Teva (the maker of Copaxone) says that they’ll keep making the 20ml doses.

Now… the rub.

Teva doesn’t want you to stay on your current dose of glatiramer acetate.

The reports are all saying that Teva has informed investors that it intends (some reports used “plan,” “hopes” and “persuade”) to switch 45 percent – 50 percent of patients to the new formulation.  The drug maker intends to persuade you to switch!  They’ve already, according to one report, ramped-up their Shared Solutions branch for the task.

And why?

Money.

Glairamer acetate is likely to be the first MS drug to go generic in the US market.  The manufacturer itself says that this will cost the company in the range of $500 million per year due to loss in current Copxone users who opt for the generic.  That’s a serious chunk of their estimated $4.2 billion in sales for 2013.

By changing the dose – not the formulation, this is the same drug – from 20ml/daily to 40ml/3x per week the makers have effectively created a new patent to protect them until 2030.

It’s no wonder that it was investment sites that crowded the first page of my search.

Again, I want to reiterate, HUZZAH!  We have another choice in dosing.  Trust me though, friends, I’ll be cheering a lot louder for the generic form of glatiramer acetate (currently known as generic Glatiramer Acetate, Synthon BV or “GTR” for short) which is expected on the US market around June of this year… as long as the manufacturer of that drug doesn’t try to gouge our community.

Let us know if you get a call from your Shared Solutions nurse that seems more like a sales call than anything else.  I think we’d all like to know how Teva intends to “persuade” you to change.

Wishing you and your family the best of health.

Cheers

Trevis