Manufacturer circled.
When you go to the pharmacy to look for Tylenol, Advil, DayQuil, or Allegra – a brand name drug – you will likely also see a CVS, Walgreens, or store-brand version of these same medications. You may even compare active ingredients in the “name brand” versus the generic and notice they are the same. The generics will also be cheaper, but if they have the ‘same ingredients’ as the brand name product, what are the important differences important for patients?
Generic drugs have the same active ingredients* as the name brand but where they vary is in the inactive ingredients* such as binders, fillers, and coatings. This is also the reason why drug appearance may differ from brand to various generics. Generic drugs span beyond the over-the-counter shelves and are also available in prescription drugs.
Currently, Gleevec (imatinib) and Sutent (sunitinib) are both available in generic form for GIST patients. The availability of generic imatinib and sunitinib has increased access to treatment for many patients.
If you recently switched to generic or manufacturers and are experiencing more significant side effects, we recommend talking to your doctor or pharmacist to discuss a manufacturer change.
However if you are taking a generic version of your medication, it is important to know which generic you are on and which manufacturer is producing that drug. Recently we sent out a Generics Survey to the GIST community and between the results of that survey and our LRG Patient Registry data we noticed that some generic versions of imatinib may lead to more side effects than others.
Based on this knowledge we suggest that if you recently switched to generics a change in side effects, we recommend talking to your doctor or pharmacist to discuss a manufacturer change. Additionally, let our registry team know if you are experiencing any changes as this allows us to continue analyzing and advocating for you! Even small changes matter.
If you are interested in learning more about your drug or manufacturer, we recommend searching them at: https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/index.cfm.
