Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, an worldwide, integrated, speciality pharmaceutical company, announced that the company has received United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approval for generic version of Gleevec, Imatinib Mesylate tablets 100mg and 400mg. In addition to targeting chronic myeloid leukemia, the generic drug has been approved for treating several other cancers in both children and adults, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The drug was soon appreciated for its effectiveness and was deemed as a near-cure for the condition which was considered a universally fatal disease, now with the help for the medication the leukemia can be managed with long-term medication.
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Gleevec which is also known as Glivec in some countries is Novartis’ major selling drug.
Gleevec has been the best selling drug for Swiss Novartis AG. Worldwide the drug rang up $4.7 billion in sales a year ago, slightly more than in 2013. Novartis has patented of Gleevec and yearly sale of $2.5 billion in the U.S. An Express Scripts ($ESRX) report this year showed that Gleevec held the largest piece of the US cancer drug market with a 12.5% share. In addition, the pharmaceutical company is the global leader in providing cancer treatments.
Employing a common strategy of brand-name drugmakers whose blockbusters are going off patent, Novartis is offering patients with private insurance discount cards that set their monthly copayment at $10, with Novartis covering up to $30,000 a year of the pharmacy bill. “The program isn’t available to patients paying cash or insured under government health programs”.
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Mumbai: Sun Pharmaceutical who is the India’s largest drug maker is obtained approval from the US FDA to Generic Copies of Gleevec. After that, if FDA approves other drugmakers’ generic versions, their prices should start dropping sharply.
