Apparently, original drugs are having an easy time while generic drugs have to fiercely compete with each other at the bidding of the Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), showing a big disparity.

 

When Ilganbosa’s analyzed the drug list in the SNUH bidding, generic versions of major items including Lipitor, Actos, and Ultracet were included in the bidding list. However, most original drugs were designated as single items, while generic drugs have to compete with each other. Among atorvastatin drugs, Lipitor of Pfizer was designated as a single item, while four generic drugs, including ‘Lipinon’ of Dong-a Pharm, ‘Tovast’ of Hanmi Pharm, ‘Lipilow’ of Chong Kun Dang, and ‘Speetin’ of Daewoong Pharm have to compete.

 

Last year, two companies, Dong-a Pharm and Daewoong Pharm, competed in the bidding of Plavix generic versions. This year, six generic versions of Plavix have to compete, including a new improved version. ‘Cloart’ of Daewoong, ‘Plavitol’ of Dong-a, ‘Tromvix’ of Ildong, and ‘Platless’ of Samjin will compete in the main SNUH bidding, and ‘Clopidogrel’ of Ilyang will be added in the competition of Daewoong, Dong-a, and Samjin in the Bundang SNUH.

 

‘Pidogl’ of Hanmi and ‘Pregrel’ of Chong Kun Dang, new improved versions of Plavix, were designated as single items in the biddings of both hospitals. For the generic versions of Lilly’s ‘Actos,’ a diabetes treatment drug, the competition will be among ‘Gluconon’ of Dong-a, ‘Pierizone’ of Hanmi, and ‘Pioglitazone’ of Daewoong.

 

Also, ‘Gemzar’ of Lilly was designated as a single item, but its generic versions from Yuhanyanghang, Dong-a, and Chong Kun Dang will compete at the main SNUH, and generic versions from Dong-a, Yuhanyanghang, Chong Kun Dang, and Hanmi will compete at the Bundang SNUH. Most doses of ‘Cozaar’ of MSD Pharmaceutical were designated as single items, but 50mg will compete with ‘Coska’ of SK. However, Cozaar and Coska have been jointly marketed, so they can be regarded as a single item.

 

Besides, in the case of Amlodipine drugs, ‘Novarsc’ of Pfizer was designated as a single item, while Dong-a, Hanmi, CJ, Chong Kun Dang, and SK have to compete in the main SNUH bidding, and Dong-a, Hanmi, Chong Kun Dang, SK, and Choongwae will compete in the Bundang SNUH bidding. However, ‘Ultracet’ of Janssen Korea has to compete with its generic versions, including ‘Trasphen’ of Hanmi, ‘Cetamadol’ of Ildong, ‘Rapicet’ of Chong Kun Dang, and ‘Expain’ of Pacific Pharm, so a fight among the original drug and the generic versions is expected.