Some thoughts on drug interchangeability.

Journal Article (Journal Article;Review)

Current regulation for generic approval is based on the assessment of average bioequivalence. As indicated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an approved generic drug can be used as a substitute for the innovative drug. FDA does not indicate that two generic copies of the same innovative drug can be used interchangeably even though they are bioequivalent to the same brand-name drug. In practice, bioequivalence between generic copies of an innovative drug is not required. However, as more generic drug products become available, it is a concern whether the approved generic drug products have the same quality and therapeutic effect as the brand-name drug product and whether they can be used safely and interchangeably. In this article, several criteria including a newly proposed criterion for assessing drug interchangeability are studied. In addition, comments on possible study designs and power calculation for sample size under a specific design are also discussed.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Chow, S-C; Song, F; Chen, M

Published Date

  • 2016

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 26 / 1

Start / End Page

  • 178 - 186

PubMed ID

  • 26366703

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1520-5711

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1080/10543406.2015.1092027

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • England