Pentasa and entocort => generics available

[bikebiddlah]

pentasa and entocort => generics available

Hello All:

diagnosed w/ crohn's and had my first flare just recently (september - present). currently i am pulling out of the worst of things and getting back to "normal" life thanks in large part to the good medications i am on. Currently taking 5mg of prednisone, 9mg of entocort, and pentasa (8 pills a day...lame).

I am about to get off the prednisone thank goodness.

Does anyone know if there are "generic" drugs available for PENTASA (mesalamine) and Entocort? A one month supply of these drugs is about $1000! I fortunatly have good insurance which cuts about 80% of the price out but thats still $200 bucks a month for each of these drugs, a total of $400 dollars a month.

does anyone have suggestions for how to help cut this cost down? like using gneerics for example? are there better places to buy these drugs than my local market or walgreens pharmacy?

This is the first time in my life i have ever had to be on medication for anything so i am new to how the whole prescription drug thing and don't know if there is anything i can do to find the same drugs for less.

thanks.

spencer

 

[susanfrances]

Hi Spencer- While I am fortunate to have fairly good medical/pharmacy insurance, my co-pays on many of the meds I have tried have been hard to cover. I also looked for generic alternatives. Pentasa is a variation of the drug mesalamine. The drug itself is available in a generic..however... it's the coating on the capsule/mechanism of relase of medication that deterrmines where along the GI tract the medicine is released that is patented. Your doctor could help you decide is an alternative to Pentasa is right for you, depending on where your inflammation is located.
For now there is no generic for Entocort. The patent expires in May 2011; so there may be one around the corner.
The companies that make Humira and Cimzia have picked up any co-pay of mine after my insurance has been filed. Google the medication and patient assistance programs to check.
Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[saidinstouch]

Unfortunately there are no generics for these drugs and for the Entocort I don't believe there is a patient assistance program either (others on here might know otherwise, but I couldnt find one). For the pentasa you may be able to get a copay assistance plan from the company and should contact them about it.

 

[fateful_one]

I just got onto Shire's assistance program. They are going to supply me with 1 yr of Pentasa for free! All I had to do was fill out an application and have the doc sign and fax it in w/ a script. The makers of entocort may have a plan too, but I'm not sure.