Further 318 generics added to Japan's NHI list

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced the additional listing of 318 generic drugs/84 active ingredients to the National  Health Insurance drug price list in the May 15 Official Gazette. Among  the total number of the products, there are 214 oral, 91 injectable and  13 topical agents, resulting in a total 16,964 prescription medicines  (9,148 oral, 4,610 injectable, 3,164 topical and 42 dental products) in  the list, reports the Marketletter's local correspondent.

Four ingredients/93 copy products were added to the NHI list as generic  drugs for the first time. They are 39 versions of domestic  pharmaceutical firm Daiichi Sankyo's Acecol (temocapril) for the  treatment of hypertension, 32 generics of the firm's Cravit  (levofloxacin), an antibiotic, 15 copies of Anglo-Swedish drug major  AstraZeneca's Casodex (bicalutamide) for prostate cancer, and seven  versions of Japanese company Otsuka Pharmaceutical's Mucosta  (rebamipide), a gastric ulcer remedy.

All four of the above brands face patent expiries during this year, and  each generated annual Japanese revenues of between 30.0 billion yen  ($312.0 million) and 50.0 billion yen, reports the Nikkei Weekly, noting  that this is the first time that protection on so many popular drugs  comes to an end at one time.