New brand of felodipine ‘bioequivalent’

For patients‚ the more expensive the medicine, the better is the quality. But with the introduction of pharmacoeconomics, this kind of thinking is being corrected.

One of the main concepts of pharmacoeconomics is to provide affordable, yet bioequivalent drugs. Dr. Esperanza Cabral, president of the Philippine Society of Hypertension, provided an explanation on bioequivalence among drugs, saying price has really nothing to do with a medicine’s effectiveness.

She said a generic product which has been shown by appropriate tests to be bioequivalent to the standard or innovator drug can be used as an alternative to the latter.

An affordable brand of felodipine, one of the most prescribed antihypertensive drugs, was recently launched and this was eagerly welcomed by both patients and doctors.

The drug has undergone the necessary testing for bioequivalence and has been proven to be as effective as the originator brand. It costs approximately 50-percent less.

Patients are reminded that felodipine and other antihypertensive drugs are prescription medicine and should only be bought upon a doctor’s advice.