Generic oxycodone avail
September 11, 2014
A GENERIC version of modified
release oxycodone has been
launched on private prescription.
Sandoz released Oxycodone
Sandoz and Sandoz branded
oxycodone modified release
tablets last week, its customer
services line confirmed.
The company confirmed the
product was available in 5mg,
10mg, 20mg, 40mg and 80mg
strengths through hospital and
retail pharmacy channels as a
non-PBS product.
It said it was launching the
product in line with Therapeutic
Goods Administration approval
guidelines and “in response to
patient needs.”
In April, Mundipharma
introduced its tamper-proof
version of controlled release
OxyContin, with stock of the
original formulation returned
by wholesalers and destroyed,
Mundipharma md Jane Orr said in
a letter to pharmacists in August
(PD 03 Sep).
Only the tamper-proof,
controlled release OxyContin was
available on the PBS, Orr said.
The patent on controlled
release OxyContin expired in
July, allowing generics to be
sold, a fact which prompted the
Australian Pharmacy Liaison
Forum to say it was concerned
non-tamper-proof formulations
being available would mean
pharmacists could be at risk in
the workplace and oxycodone
abuse could occur.
Preliminary data from the
Sydney Medically Supervised
Injecting Centre showed a drop
in OxyContin injection onsite
since the introduction of the new
formulation although it also saw
an increase in other drug use (PD
16 Jul).
The Department of Health said
a pharmacist would be unable to
claim an item as a pharmaceutical
benefit through the Department
of Human Services if they
attempted to dispense a generic
version of the controlled release
oxycodone.
The Generic Medicines Industry
Asssociation has previously made
the point that the introduction of
generic medicines was important
as they played a crucial role in
containing expenditure on the
PBS and that it was vital that
effective market entry pathways
existed for generic medicines in
Australia.
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