INTRODUCTION Several orphan drugs have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) over the past two decades. However, the drugs are expensive, and in some instances, the evidence for effectiveness is not convincing at the time of regulatory approval. Our objective was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of orphan drugs that have been granted marketing licenses in Europe, determine ...

Registered in 2001, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) has quickly become a mainstay of first line regimens for the treatment of HIV. Initially only available in developed countries at a cost of US$5 000 per person per year (ppy), Gilead's Access Programme (GAP) has extended the use of the product to 2.4 million patients in low and middle income countries. The programme has two components: dis...

The influence of radio frequency (RF) field orientation on specific absorption rate (SAR) in a human head is investigated in this paper. The amount of temperature raised in Human Head due to Mobile Phone usage with different frequency range is analyzed using a versatile electromagnetic field simulator based upon the Finite-Difference Time-Domain method (FDTD).The harmful effects of recent unbra...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the existence of differences in the use of generic medicines in Brazil according to demographic and socioeconomic variables and acquisition sources of the medicines. METHODS Population-based cross-sectional study, conducted with data from the Pesquisa Nacional de Acesso, Utilização e Promoção do Uso Racional de Medicamentos (PNAUM - National Survey on Access, Use and Prom...

OBJECTIVES This study examined the perceptions of cigarette packaging and the potential impact of plain packaging regulations. The hypothesis was that the branded cigarette packages would be rated more positively than the corresponding plain packs with and without descriptors. DESIGN Between-subjects experimental online survey. Male and female participants were separately randomised to one of...

Medicines form a substantial portion of out-of-pocket expenditure on health in India. COVID-19 has induced financial constraint driving patients to be inquisitive for the cost medicines. We explored patients’ perceptions towards medicines era conducted cross-sectional survey outpatients (n=282) attending three comprehensive diabetes care centres December - January 2021, with 17 questions assess...

OBJECTIVES to compare the biological efficacy of generic enoxaparin (HeptronTM) versus branded Sanofi-Aventis enoxaparin for prophylaxis and treatment of lower-extremity deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in a prospective, randomized, open-label study. METHODS patients with diagnosed lower-extremity DVT (therapeutic branch, n=57) and patients requiring venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis after...

OBJECTIVE Food cost is an important factor influencing the consumption of nutritious foods and subsequent chronic disease risk. The present study compared the cost of branded food products with their generic equivalents across a range of food categories. SETTING The survey was conducted within two major supermarket chains across six locations in Sydney, Australia (n 12). DESIGN Price differ...

OBJECTIVES The primary aim of this non-inferiority study was to investigate the clinical effectiveness and safety of generic escitalopram (Lexacure(®)) versus branded escitalopram (Lexapro(®)) for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). METHODS The present study included 158 patients, who were randomized (1:1) to receive a flexible dose of generic escitalopram (n=78) or branded escital...