Brand-name Coumadin discontinued in US, Canada, Latin America, and Saudi Arabia

[johnmarkos]

I went to the BMS site to look up the vitamin K content of some food -- something I couldn't find in the USDA's Food Central database, and I saw this alert:

IMPORTANT ALERT:
COUMADIN (warfarin sodium) is being discontinued in the U.S.
Inventory may still be available at your pharmacy.
If you are currently prescribed COUMADIN,
talk to your doctor about your treatment options.

Of course, generic Warfarin is still available, and that's what I've been using all along. Just thought it would be of interest to this forum.

 

[johnmarkos]

Here's a detailed notice from BMS (PDF): https://www.bms.com/assets/bms/ca/d...n_D-HCP-Communication_FINAL_EN_04.23.2020.pdf

 

[Thomas]

I call B.S. on that explanation.

The patent ran out or more likely they're bloated and can't compete with generic manufacturers.

 

[vitdoc]

The drug was discovered over 50 years ago so patent protection is long gone.
The problem is likely a dwindling market. The novel anticoagulants are now used for A fib and deep vein thrombosis instead of warfarin. These markets were much bigger than the mechanical valve market that has also shrunk due to bio prosthetic valves. So now the only major need for warfarin is for mechanical valves. In poorer places it still will be used for other conditions.
If the cost of INR testing is factored in and the novel anticoagulants are sold cheaper in the poor places then warfarin even in these places will be less utilized.
So the Coumadin people probably decided they should get out of the warfarin business. I just hope there will not be shortages of warfarin.

 

[Protimenow]

I would be surprised by any shortage of warfarin. There are still too many people who rely on it.

With the withdrawal of BMS (Bristol-Meyers/Squibb (I may have the punctuation wrong), this leaves a somewhat larger market for the generics. There will be a limited number of patients who 'relied' on Coumadin to be able to successfully manage their INR, it may come down to trying generics from more than one manufacturer to be sure that you can manage INR. (I had problems with another generic, and insisted that I got Warfarin).

Although there may be consolidation of manufacturers, I can't see warfarin going away.

 

[pellicle]

The patent ran out or more likely they're bloated

there has been no patent for well over 30 years already.
Timeline: The history of warfarin
>>1982: The University of Wisconsin's patent on warfarin expires, ending the royalties it collects on sales of the drug. All told, the university collected $120 million ? in today's dollars ? from the drug.<<

I'd say that since there are any number of other makers and its got to be a low profit marging drug why would you bother?

Just switch to Marevan ..

 

[Protimenow]

I've seen some claims that the only anticoagulant that can reliably enable them to control their INR was Coumadin. I know, for myself, that I've had to insist that Jantoven (if I remember the name right) didn't work properly for me - I had to switch to warfarin. Jantoven is supposedly another coumadin generic.

For people who seem to believe that only Coumadin will work, I suggest trying warfarin from other manufacturers to find one that does let you manage your INR. I remember, when the patent was still in effect, paying around $1.00 a pill -- and for some dosing that required more than one pill, this got quite expensive.

 

[pellicle]

this leaves a somewhat larger market for the generics.

switch to Marevan ... its well priced and a good manufacturer ... I've used it from day 1

Warfarin brands
>... In Australia we have two brands − Coumadin and Marevan. Both are manufactured by Aspen Pharmaceuticals ...<

 

[Sheenas7]

Wow! That was news to me. I wrote my cardiologist who said if there was a need since I have been on Coumadin for more than 20 years he would put me on Jantoven. Looks like it’s the generic to Coumadin for same company. Am I wrong? If I’ve been stable on Coumadin, I’d like to keep with it...so is Jantoven the same as Coumadin? Same is good.

 

[Protimenow]

In the United States, there's Jantoven and Warfarin. There may be a difference -- I've been managing my INR since 2009, and my pharmacy substituted Jantoven for Warfarin -- and I couldn't regulate my INR. My body didn't seem to respond to it in the same way that it responded to generic warfarin. Jantoven is supposedly a generic to warfarin (and Coumadin), but I don't know how theyre structurally different.

I doubt that Jantoven is made by the manufacturers of coumadin -- what would be the reason for them to compete against their big cash cow?

Try warfarin (or Jantoven). Your INR will be stable on it (or switch from one to the other). If there was a problem with a generic for Coumadin, the FDA would have taken action.

 

[dick0236]

I have been on the generic Warfarin since switching from Coumadin 30 years ago. There are a few pharmas that produce Warfarin. I have used the "Taro pharma" brand Warfarin for many years with no problems. Taro provides pills in the same strengths as Coumadin by Bristol-Myers.

 

[Protimenow]

All warfarin/coumadin/jantoven uses the same colors to indicate the dosage of the pill. This should seem obvious -- it enables substitution of doses from one manufacturer to another, without concern about equivalent effectiveness for pills of the same color (shape of the pills is sometimes a different matter).

 

[LondonAndy]

I few months ago there was a thread where some of us posted pictures of our Warfarin products. Here in the UK I have been on at least three different brands of it, and never noticed a difference.

 

[almost_hectic]

FWIW, I’m on Jantoven, have been since I got my new valve on day one. No issues for me.

 

[coffeelover]

I'm like Dick0236 I've been using Taro brand for warfarin. Seems to be the right one for me. My local pharmacy tried to fill my my Rx with a different, cheaper brand of generic warfarin and I said "Nope". Pharmacy managed to get the Taro brand in a few days later.

 

[tom in MO]

"A generic drug is a medication that has exactly the same active ingredient as the brand name drug and yields the same therapeutic effect. "

Warfarin was the original brand name drug. All the others, such as Taro, Jantoven, etc. are generic drugs, just given a brand name for marketing purposes. Sometimes the brand name drug and generic drug are made in the same factory.

They probably discontinued producing coumadin due to a production problem that wasn't worth investing in to solve given the number of other manufacturers of the generic drug.

 

[dick0236]

Coumarin is a plant based drug that was patented under the brand name Coumadin by Dupont Chemical Corp in the 1950s. Dupont kept medical providers "scared to death" of prescribing the generic Warfarin until all patent protection expired and then Dupont sold the Coumadin brand to Bristol-Myers-Squibb. Back in the 1960s-1970s I paid nearly $3 per Coumadin pill (about $100+/month) and that was a lot to pay in those years. I tried for years to get a doc to prescribe the generic Warfin and was finally able to switch in the 1980s. My "personal opinion" is that Bristol-Myers can no longer market Coumadin at a premium price due to the other new anti-coagulant drugs coming to the market and is looking for "a way out".

It is true that all generic drugs must contain the same "active ingredients"........however there can be slight differences in inactive ingredients as well as manufacturing tolerances. I use the Taro Pharma brand because I trust their consistency between prescriptions and their experience in producing the drug Warfarin.

Once you have established a generic Warfarin brand stay with that brand if possible. Don't bounce around among generic brand Warfarin 'cause you or the drug store "got a deal".

 

[Protimenow]

Dick0236 is right - although the generics may have the same active ingredients, colors and other additivies may not interact as well with the body as other generics. I found this the hard way when I was unable to regulate my INR using Jantoven. Taro warfarin works for me.

Warfarin was originally developed at the University of Wisconsin, and was owned by Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). They apparently sold the patent rights to DuPont.

I also remember spending A LOT on the patented Coumadin. For a while, I was fortunate enough to have a doctor who requested samples and gave them to me. When they ran out, generics became available.

As Dick said - find warfarin that works for you from one manufacturer and stay with that manufacturer.

 

[pellicle]

Once you have established a generic Warfarin brand stay with that brand if possible. Don't bounce around among generic brand Warfarin 'cause you or the drug store "got a deal".

seconded ... although mines Marevan by the same maker ... I don't change and having gone to Europe and bought the same brand (in different looking bottles but same colours of pills) I observed no changes in my INR.

 

[Protimenow]

The colors of warfarin are standardized. Although the intensity of color may vary a bit from manufacturer to manufacturer, you can always tell a pill's dose by its color (unless you're color blind, of course). The shapes change, depending on which company makes it, but you can be confident that the doses, based on color, remain the same.

For me, only Warfarin works - and I usually get mine that were manufactured by Taro - fwiw, [warfarin[ seems to work well - Jantoven, another generic doesn't.

So - find one that allows you to control your INR, and stick with it.