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Does anyone believe there is a relevant difference, other than dosage per pill, between Asacol HD and Asacol? The manufacturer claims they are not bio-equivalent. But my reading says that Asacol HD was simply designed so that fewer pills are required to be taken vs. Asacol.
I am asking because my co-pay for Asacol HD is outrageous. But I think for Asacol it is more reasonable as it is an older drug. I also noticed I can purchase a generic for Asacol from Alldaychemist.
My sister is a drug rep so I know the games that big pharma plays to keep their patents relevant (i.e. makes minor changes to existing drugs to extend patent protection).
Regards,
Rich
Asacol HD vs Asacol
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Asacol HD vs Asacol
"It's not what I believe. It's what I can prove." - A Few Good Men
You should be able to purchase generic mesalamine, anywhere.
Tex
http://www.asacolhd.com/pdfs/AsacolHDPr ... ngInfo.pdfOne Asacol HD 800 mg tablet has not been shown to be bioequivalent to two Asacol 400 mg tablets. In
a single dose, cross-over pharmacokinetic study in 20 healthy volunteers, the mean mesalamine Cmax was
36% lower and the mean mesalamine AUC was 25% lower with administration of one Asacol HD 800
mg tablet relative to two Asacol 400 mg tablets. Because the mechanism of action of mesalamine
appears to be topical, the impact of these differences in measures of systemic exposure on clinical
efficacy is not known.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Tex,
Is Mesalamine the ingredient in Asacol or is it an equivalent drug (i.e. as in where it releases in the GI tract)? If so, I am trying to understand if I can switch over to that. I read the P&G link and in my estimated, Asacol performs similar to Asacol HD when one considers the confidence interval listed.
Thx
Rich
Is Mesalamine the ingredient in Asacol or is it an equivalent drug (i.e. as in where it releases in the GI tract)? If so, I am trying to understand if I can switch over to that. I read the P&G link and in my estimated, Asacol performs similar to Asacol HD when one considers the confidence interval listed.
Thx
Rich
"It's not what I believe. It's what I can prove." - A Few Good Men
Rich,
Sulfasalazine, is the parent drug in this case, (it's metabolized by the liver to form sulfapyridine and 5-Aminosalicylic Acid, (5_ASA). Since sulfapyradine is useful for treating RA, but otherwise causes adverse effects for many users of sulfasalazine, (who do not have RA), 5-ASA was developed, in order to work around the sulfapyradine issue.
5-ASA is also known as mesalamine, or mesalazine, and brand names which use it as the active ingredient, include Asacol, Colazal, Pentasa, Rowasa, Lialda, Apriso, etc. Each brand name product uses a slightly different type of encapsulation, in order to prevent the active ingredient from activating too soon, so therefore, each brand is going to "distribute" the active product in a slightly different pattern. Also, various brands contain various inactive ingredients. Asacol, for example, contains lactose, which seems to cause problems for many members who have tried it. I have no idea whether or not Asacol HD contains lactose, because I haven't seen an ingredient list for it, and I have no idea what form of encapsulation it uses, but I'll bet that it uses a form different from regular Asacol, since it shows different pharmacokinetics, when compared with an equivalent dose of regular Asacol.
Tex
Sulfasalazine, is the parent drug in this case, (it's metabolized by the liver to form sulfapyridine and 5-Aminosalicylic Acid, (5_ASA). Since sulfapyradine is useful for treating RA, but otherwise causes adverse effects for many users of sulfasalazine, (who do not have RA), 5-ASA was developed, in order to work around the sulfapyradine issue.
5-ASA is also known as mesalamine, or mesalazine, and brand names which use it as the active ingredient, include Asacol, Colazal, Pentasa, Rowasa, Lialda, Apriso, etc. Each brand name product uses a slightly different type of encapsulation, in order to prevent the active ingredient from activating too soon, so therefore, each brand is going to "distribute" the active product in a slightly different pattern. Also, various brands contain various inactive ingredients. Asacol, for example, contains lactose, which seems to cause problems for many members who have tried it. I have no idea whether or not Asacol HD contains lactose, because I haven't seen an ingredient list for it, and I have no idea what form of encapsulation it uses, but I'll bet that it uses a form different from regular Asacol, since it shows different pharmacokinetics, when compared with an equivalent dose of regular Asacol.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.