Generic lialda price

Is anyone else in the US puzzled by the price they are seeing for generic Lialda?

I thought it went generic almost 2 years ago and other manufacturers were supposedly starting to make it.

Seems like the price went down for a while but now it is back up to about what it was when it was still on patent.

What gives? Shouldn't it be cheap by now?

I'm on a high deductible plan & have to pay out of pocket.

Thanks but I don't quite understand...I saw a press release that Mylan was launching a generic Lialda a few months ago. This other website (https://www.drugs.com/availability/generic-lialda.html) lists 4 generic versions (including Zydus and Mylan) that have won approval. Is there really just one?

It's all very confusing to me so I appreciate any explanations even if they seem overly basic....

New generics aren’t much cheaper UNLESS you have flat copays, and your insurance says hey if it’s generic is $10. If you have a deductible plan like you do, it’s not going to make much of a difference. Once generics have been out a long time, they do get cheaper in most cases. Since you pay a % right now, it’s not much of a savings. Now... you need to research which mesalamine drugs (brand name) have a savings card from the manufacturer. And only from the manufacturer. If you find one, and your dr prescribes it, you use your private insurance as the primary and the savings card as secondary. Lialda might have one. The manufacturer actually does pay the pharmacy the amount of money it knocks off your portion. This is where brand names can be cheaper. Second, if you can’t find a good deal going that route, please call your insurance plan and ask them which NDC is cheapest and how/where to they prefer you fill it. Your pharmacy may only carry certain NDCs. Plus, your insurance may offer you a lower cost using mail order. Hope this helps!

First of all I want to say there's a disturbing lack of real consumer-accessible information about this.

I am greatly attuned to the price of, and variations in different "Generic Lialda" since my insurance switched to a "high deductible" plan that requries me to pay 100% of the drug price up to my deductible and then 20% thereafter.

My official insurance started shipping me 1.2g pills of meslalamine from the company Zydus at a cost of $1240/180pills. The coating is quite different than the coating for brand name Lialda - the Zydus generic coating becomes slippery when wet, while brand-name Lialda does not. As we all know the coating on mesalamine pills is crucial to protect the mesalamine while it's in your stomach (stomach acid will ruin mesalamine) but then the coating has to fall apart when it gets to the more neutral pH in the large intestine.

I then look on GoodRx and can see that you can get generic Lialda at Publix for $430/180, though I don't know the manufacturer and this amount would not apply towards my insurance deductible.

Then I found one of these "international pharmacy referral services" that will accept a faxed prescription from my doctor, and then a pharmacy in Singapore sends me generic Lialda manufactured by Sun Pharmaceuticals at a price of about $180/180pills. Of course this is a bit riskier than going through a US pharmacy. The Sun Pharmaceuticals mesalamine pills have a coating much more similar to the brand name Lialda.


According to this FDA website there are four manufacturers making US FDA-approved AB-equivalent generic Lialda: Actavis, Mylan, Sun, and Zydus.

The Sun Pharma generic was only approved January 28 of this year.
Mylan's generic was approved 20 Nov 2018
Actavis's generic was approved March 28, 2018
Zydus's generic was approved June 5, 2017

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/index.cfm?event=overview.process&applno=211858

Post Edited (UCinGV) : 5/10/2019 8:50:09 AM (GMT-6)

Hi Guys,

I am from India and we generally use generic lailda made by SUN Pharmaceuticals. I think it is has same coating as lailda since it wont get slippery when it is wet like you described as for zydus generic. I pay around 3000 rupees(around 50 dollars) for a months supply of 120 tablets.

Momto2boys, you should be paying the insurance's negotiated-rate when paying toward the annual deductible. If not, I'd ask the pharmacy and then the insurer to verify this.

Fredflats, I called my local pharmacy, RiteAid and asked if they can order these generic Mesalamine 1.2-gram tabs and here's what I found out. They could not give me prices for items they did not have in stock (Mylan). But if you want to speak-pharmacy-talk, call yours and give the NDC numbers listed. And let us know if you can order! (Negotiated prices vary by insurance carrier so not at all consistent among us all)

• Yes, can order. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. NDC Code(s): 0378-7401-37, 0378-7401-78
  
• No, not currently available to order. Actavis Pharma, Inc. NDC Code(s): 0591-2245-10, 0591-2245-22
  
• Yes, can order. Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA) Inc. NDC Code(s): 68382-711-19, 68382-711-64
  
• Yes, can order (brand-named Lialda). Shire US Manufacturing Inc. NDC Code(s): 54092-100-01

Exciting, I did not know that the Mylan generic mesalamine is now available, so thanks for sharing. The Actavis one is not currently available for order, however, that could change in the near future.

Post Edited (iPoop) : 5/10/2019 2:29:38 PM (GMT-6)

seanyd said...
@UCinGV man that's a brutal plan. I guess you probably hit your deductible pretty early then? I've been on name brand from the beginning (9/15) and am hesitant to switch since it has been working for me so far. I miss the days of the assistance program. My current pricing is $300 for a 3 month supply. I know generic is cheaper for me, but if it ain't broke I'm not trying to fix it.

Yes, I meet my deductible quite early in the year, especially since my wife had a baby last month.

Insurance made me originally switch from Asacol to Asacol HD (no problem), then to brand Lialda (no problem, in fact possibly better) to Zydus generic (slight bumps in transition but just as good or perhaps better in the long run). Then I switched to Sun Pharma generic Lialda imported from Singapore, which also had a few slight bumps in transition but is just as good or perhaps better in the long run.