Dealing With Headaches

Imitrex, near and dear to many with migraines, is a brand name made by the Prince of Giant Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline (nee: SmithKline Beecham), which has offices in America but is a British-owned company. One of the reasons that GlaxoSmithKline is such a mighty international company is that they charge a FORTUNE for their brand meds (remember when Tagamet was perscription only? OY!) Nine Imitrex tablets costs, on average, $200 (US). OUCH! It might be less painful to keep on having the migraines.

Now, thankfully, there is some competition for GSK and their CEO, Jean-Pierre Garnier, who will soon retire from GSK in order to pursue his destiny of being the AntiChrist.

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, a Princeton, New Jersey business that makes generic drugs in India, got a deal approved last week to make a generic (read: CHEAPER) Imitrex. They are going to be allowed to make three dosage sized tablets:

• 25 mg
• 50 mg
• 100 mg

They will go under the name of Imitrex’s active ingrdient, sumatriptan succinate.

Litigation has been going on for some time about drug patent issues, but at least that’s all settled (knock on wood). The generic Imitrex is planned to be available to the general public this December. (There’s a Christmas gift idea for you, folks!)

It’s going to be Christmas every day for Ranbaxy, as Imitrex earns nearly $1 BILLION (US) yearly for GSK. The terms of the settlement are not being released to the public, which is probably a good thing. The gargantuan numbers flashing in front of our eyes would be enough to trigger a migraine.

However, so far, this generic Imitrex is for tablet form only. The injection and nasal spray versions will still be the sole property of GlaxoSmithKline … for now.

So, what do you do if you need Imitrex in the meantime (and with a migraine, that is a mean time indeed)? Basically, you’re screwed. This is the way Big Pharma is. Your choices are:

• Steal it (not recommended)
• Ask for any samples from your doctor (it happens, occassionally)
• See if you qualify for GSK’s token attempt at giving a damn at GSK For You. Well, I’d change the midddle word for a more accurate description of the program, but…
• Made a voodoo doll of Jean-Pierre Garnier and stick needles in his eyes and genitals. It won’t make your migraine go away, but it will make you feel a lot better in other ways.