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Generic Asacol??

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 6/16/2014 10:04 PM (GMT 0)
I am sure this topic has already been covered, but I haven't been on in a while. When in the heck can we start getting generic Asacol?? I switched to Asacol HD when the regular Asacol was (conveniently) discontinued. My insurance isn't great and my deductible is high, so I am paying $900 a month for HD until I hit it. I want generic!!! I also need to switch to mail order, but that means I need a 3 month scrip from my doc which manes I need to make an appt... which means... see my next post. smilewinkgrin

Hope everyone is doing well! Love this forum.
Posted 6/16/2014 10:47 PM (GMT 0)
Generic Asacol is available on the world market, but is not being marketed in the US. Instead they released HD.
Posted 6/16/2014 10:57 PM (GMT 0)
That is so wrong... Does anyone know when the generic will be available for us? The pharmaceutical/healthcare industry is so messed up here. This isn't about making $. This is about having healthy citizens. Makes me so ashamed!
Posted 6/16/2014 11:01 PM (GMT 0)
You can order it from Canada. There are some cheaper options available in the US, colazal is one, another is sulfasalazine. Sulfasalazine works well for some but it's older and more people have allergies to it... You also may be able to get something cheaper than Asacol HD. I switched to Lialda and there is a copay assist coupon that brings my copay down to $10 but i am not sure it would work for you in the case of a deductible? The situation with generic asacol was really twisted. They claimed there was something "unhealthy" about the casing right before it went generic. It was taken off the market by the manufacturer and a new medicine was distributed that had a small difference and it was patented with a new name. Delzicol or something. What a awful thing to do to suffering people...
Posted 6/16/2014 11:17 PM (GMT 0)
Assuming you're making an apptmt with Uma M., why don't you ask about Apriso for maintenance of remission? (Fewer caps daily so price could be lower.) RE generic for Asacol: be aware that the FDA permits manufacturers to put only 80% of the active ingredient into a generic version so it might not work as effectively as the brandname. Anyway, great to hear from you-- that apart from Rx expenses you're doing well, the best news of all! (Quite a number of flaring moms joined this forum the last couple yrs.) / Old Hat (33 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal) *** P.S. In case your next post concerns c-scope prep, Miralax mixed with 64 oz. clear liquid is more tolerable than the salty yuck of the past!

Post Edited (Old Hat) : 6/16/2014 5:21:47 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/16/2014 11:25 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks both of you. It truly is twisted what drug manufacturers get away with in the US. The casing is unhealthy but ONLY in the U.S., meanwhile putting the same ingredients as yoga mats in our bread is totally fine for Americans while Europe banned it long ago. Truly Fed up. How is this crap going to be fixed for the next generation? sigh...

I tried Colozal and Lialda and unfortunately they didn't work for me as well as Asacol(unless they have changed in the last 2 years) I will just need to get a mail in scrip so at least it is more tolerable to pay.

Great to see you old hat. Sorry to hear about new moms. I will never forget my time as a new mom and going through horrible flares. Flaring is horrible, but having a newborn you can't help while you are flaring is the worst(especially ones as colicky as mine were). Can you believe my DD turned 8 and my son is 6 in October? Time goes so quickly. Having a disease make the "good times" that much more sweet. I truly cherish my good times with my two.
Posted 6/16/2014 11:40 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah. Generic Asacol isn't even on the horizon in the US. Ain't gonna happen for a long time.
Posted 6/16/2014 11:53 PM (GMT 0)
Talk about "twisted" manufacturers, there are members posting these days about new UC meds like Simponi costing $14,000 for 4-6 weeks supply-- so we have to thank our lucky stars that we can function with mesalamine meds mainly. *** RE your children: absolutely wild that they're now 8 & 6 'cause you 1st told us about them way back in their wee-folk days! / Old Hat (33 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)
Posted 6/17/2014 12:18 AM (GMT 0)
www.bendbulletin.com/news/1372219-151/blocking-generics#
Posted 6/17/2014 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
AZ-great, and depressing article. Thanks!
Posted 6/17/2014 1:40 AM (GMT 0)
I don't know if people are aware that Asacol is a mesalamine and when I was taking it, I was taking 4/day. When they discontinued the Asacol HD, I was switched to Lialda which is a mesalamine also and it works just as well. Also, I'm in a patient assist program that was located for me by an agency called Bioplus Specialty Pharmacy their toll free # is 1-888-292-0744. They located a patient assist program at Shire Cares out of Louisville, KY thru which I get Lialda at no cost. There is an income eligibility that a maximum income level for 2 people of $46,530; one person is $34,470. Their phone number is 1-888-CARES-55.

As I said, I don't know if anyone was aware of this, but I thought I would pass it on.
Posted 6/17/2014 5:45 PM (GMT 0)
As others have said, Werner-Chilcott announced just a few months before Asacol's patent expiration that they would cease making Asacol because it contains dibutyl phthalate, which the FDA has issued warnings about but has not banned. They replaced Asacol with Delzicol, which does not contain dibutyl phthalate, and Delzicol now has a fresh 20 years of patent protection in the US.

Werner-Chilcott still makes Asacol HD, which still contains dibutyl phthalate. So why do they still make Asacol HD but not Asacol if they both contain dibutyl phthalate? The only difference is that the Asacol patent expired but the Asacol HD is still on patent until 2021. How convenient.


I have written to the FDA to complain about this, and the FDA says they don't handle patent abuse, they only approve drugs for safety. I wrote to someone at the US Patent Office but I got no response and I have no idea if I even wrote to the right address. I don't know who else to write to.

My employer switched insurance companies and Asacol HD was not on the new insurer's formulary. After much moaning and wailing I switched to Lialda, which is working well. I will never buy anything from Werner-Chilcott again.
Posted 6/17/2014 7:15 PM (GMT 0)
Yeah, there is some pretty scummy behavior going on with Asacol. It is shameful. I also don't understand why Asacol foam is not available in the US as it has been in Europe for a decade already. I suspect the same shady behavior is responsible.
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