Zachary Brennan
Senior Editor
Generic drugs represent the vast majority of all drugs prescribed in the US.
But in some unique cases, the FDA acknowledges that there are doctors who are concerned about drugs with a narrow therapeutic window (i.e., as the FDA says, “drugs where small differences in dose or blood concentration may lead to serious therapeutic failures or adverse drug reactions”), and therefore may be more likely to prescribe brand-name products over generics in some cases.
But in one instance, where the American Thyroid Association (ATA) recommends that generics not be used in some instances when the thyroid hormone levothyroxine is used, the FDA is now pointing to new FDA-funded real-world research that shows how switching between generics proved to be similar to sticking with the brand-name counterpart.
For the study, the researchers dove into an administrative claims database that linked lab test measures of thyroid function of patients undergoing treatment for hypothyroidism with levothyroxine, identifying and matching two different populations to compare the effects of generic switching to single-product use.
“Their conclusion is that switching among different generic levothyroxine products was not associated with clinically significant changes in thyroid function (as indicated by subgroup average serum thyrotropin level). The researchers’ conclusion — although fully consistent with FDA precepts of bioequivalence and, at the pharmacy level, product interchangeability itself — conflicts with current ATA guideline recommendations that warn clinicians about potential changes in thyroid function associated with levothyroxine product switching,” the agency explained yesterday.
Prior to initiating this study, the researchers, including some from the Mayo Clinic and FDA, noted how the ATA even questioned the FDA’s methods for determining bioequivalence between levothyroxine products.
And while the ATA guidelines recommend using thyrotropin levels as the biomarkers for evaluating therapeutic equivalence, in the absence of such evidence the ATA recommends that prescribers avoid switching between levothyroxine products in the treatment of hypothyroid patients. As a result of that recommendation, brand-name levothyroxine was preferentially prescribed over generic levothyroxine products, the FDA explains.
“Results of this comparative effectiveness research study suggest that switching among different generic levothyroxine products was not associated with clinically significant changes in TSH level,” the researchers wrote in contradiction to the guideline.
And although the researchers were careful to point out that their study was not designed to assess the therapeutic equivalence of levothyroxine generics and brand-name versions, the FDA added yesterday that this CDER-sponsored research “suggests that there may be institutional resistance among some stakeholders that may not be supported by real-world evidence.”
The ATA did not respond to a request for comment.
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