The race is on

As more and more branded medicines are coming off patent, the race is on for generic and ethical players in the pharmaceutical industry to outdo each other: Generics can't wait to get their hands on making copies of off-patent medicines, while the big pharma is in desperate need to innovate and evolve their way of doing business.

I came across a rather interesting product while in Perth. It's Canesoral Duo marketed by Bayer for vaginal thrush. This product contains a single-dose oral capsule of fluconazole 150mg PLUS 10g of clotrimazole cream for symptomatic relief. Separately, both fluconazole and clotrimazole have lost their patent and generic copies are readily available at fraction of the original cost. And this is where credit goes to Bayer on being innovative to stay ahead of the game. Canesoral Duo is premiumly priced at AUD33 per box.



One can always argue that one can buy the generic copies of both separately and save some cost right? This is where the beauty of the product comes in: it is quite impossible to buy the oral capsule on its own as one would need a doctor's prescription. This is not the case for Canesoral Duo as it is categorised as a Pharmacist Only Medicine which means that pharmacists can dispense this product without a doctor's prescription. Smart ler...


Only time will tell if we ever see this product on our shelves here in Malaysia.