Can I Buy Generic Sandimmune?
Sandimmune® (
cyclosporine) is a prescription medication approved to prevent and treat organ rejection after heart, kidney, or liver transplants. It comes as a capsule, an oral liquid solution, and an intravenous (IV) injection.
Sandimmune capsules are made by Catalent Pharma Solutions, LLC or R.P. Scherer GmbH.
Sandimmune oral solution is made by Novartis Pharma S.A.S. Sandimmune injection is made by Novartis Pharma Stein AG. All three products are distributed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Sandimmune is no longer protected by patents, and is available as a generic medication.
Generic Sandimmune is available in the following strengths and forms:
Who Makes Generic Sandimmune?
Generic Sandimmune capsules are made by Apotex. Generic Sandimmune injection is made by Bedford Laboratories and Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Generic Sandimmune oral solution is made by Wockhardt.
Is Generic Cyclosporine as Good as Sandimmune?
All generic medications must undergo certain tests to compare them to brand-name medications.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) then looks at these tests to decide if the generics are equivalent to the brand-name medications and assigns a rating to each one.
An "AB" rating (or "AP" in the case of injectable) means that the FDA has determined that a generic medication is equivalent to a brand-name medication. All of the generic Sandimmune versions currently available have an "AB" or "AP" rating, meaning they should be equivalent to Sandimmune.
However, generic medications are allowed to have different inactive ingredients than the brand-name medication. This might include fillers, dyes, or other ingredients that may cause problems for people with
allergies.
Notably, Sandimmune and its generic versions are not interchangeable with
Neoral® and
Gengraf® and cannot be considered generic versions of them. Sandimmune is the "regular" form of cyclosporine. Neoral and Gengraf contain a modified form, which has been slightly changed from regular cyclosporine and is more easily absorbed into the body.
For this reason, Sandimmune is not interchangeable with Neoral or Gengraf. If you need to switch from one type or brand of cyclosporine to another, only do so under your healthcare provider's supervision. He or she may need to adjust your dosage.
HealthSavvy Sign In
|
