Studies clearly prove even in lethal diseases like cancer, generic drugs are very effective: Director PGIMER

Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], June 24 : The studies clearly prove that even in lethal diseases like cancer, generic drugs are very effective, said Director of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Prof Vivek Lal on Saturday.

While addressing a press conference organised to deliberate on the issue of efficacy and other misconceptions regarding generic drugs, at PGIMER, Prof Vivek Lal said, "The studies clearly prove that even in lethal diseases like cancer, generic drugs are very effective. And again, in transplant, in preventing rejection of a transplant, generic drugs are equally effective, and that too, at one-fifth of the price of their counterpart in the branded category. The yardstick is to procure the right generic medicines from the right chemist."

Kumar Gaurav Dhawan, Deputy Director (Administration) & Official Spokesperson, Prof. Vipin Koushal, Medical Superintendent, PGIMER were also present on the occasion.

Deliberating about the efficacy of the generic drugs, Prof Lal cited evidence from a published study, 'Real world experience with "generic" pomalidomide in relapsed refractory multiple myeloma,' as he shared," In India, only generic counterpart of the pomalidomide is available and not the original one as its very expensive. So FDI is using only a generic counterpart. As per the study cited, there is a superior response to generic drugs as compared to the innovative drug available in the USA. The encouraging experience adds evidence to the efficacy of the generic drug even in such challenging patients such as multiple myeloma."

Director PGIMER further quoted another published study 'Cost and complications are limitations in resource-constrained settings for equine anti-thymocyte globulin' and said, "We are a leading public sector hospital in organ transplant and we celebrated 50 years of renal transplant on 21st June. The most important part of transplantation is preparing a patient for transplant, otherwise, the patient's body rejects the kidney. In that preparation, the most important drug to prepare a patient for transplant is a drug called antithymocyte globulin, ATG. This study again published from PGI, has proven that not only is generic effective in preparing a patient for transplant and preventing subsequent rejection, even half dose generic, is as effective as the innovative drugs available across the globe."

Dispelling the myth about quality control in Jan Aushdhi Centres, Director PGIMER stated, "Outside USA, India has the maximum number of FDA-approved factories in the world. We at PGIMER take drugs from WHO-approved plants and then every batch will be checked by NABL labs at regular intervals. So, quality is ensured at Jan Aushdhi Centres and its difficult to ensure the same quality when the medicine is taken from any other pharmacy store as the ethics of the owner of the pharmacy also impact the quality."

Highlighting further, the Director PGIMER said, "The Institute prefers to procure generic drugs and a testimony to the same is the fact that during the year 2022-23, the total drugs purchased by PGIMER comprised 88 per cent of generic drugs and only 12 per cent of the branded drugs."

"The total sales from 7 Amrit Pharmacy Centres, the highest in the country in any public sector hospital, for the last three months (April 1-June 23) amounted to Rs 44 crores. The total sales from the two Jan Aushadhi Centres of PGIMER, which stock only medicines and not surgical appliances as in Amrit Pharmacy, for the same period (April 1-June 23) amounted to Rs 72 lakhs," the Director further elaborated.

The media conference witnessed an engaging discussion and the queries pertaining to the road map for the expansion of Amrit Pharmacies and procurement of medicines were aptly responded to by Kumar Gaurav Dhawan, Deputy Director (Administration) & Official Spokesperson, PGIMER.

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