Deferasirox in thalassemia: a comparative study between an innovator drug and its copy among a sample of Iraqi patients

BACKGROUND: The health care industry is witnessing an increasing trend in the use of generic medicines because of their presumed low cost compared with innovator medicines. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the performance of the copy drug Osveral(®) and its innovator drug deferasirox (Exjade(®)). METHODS: A prospective observational study including 223 patients receiving the branded medicine Exjade(®) and 101 patients receiving the copy Osveral(®) was carried out. Data were assessed for a 1-year period and included clinical symptoms, serum ferritin (SF), serum creatinine (SC), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Data were analyzed with SPSS version 22 software (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: The median age of the sample was 8 years. There was no significant difference in gender distribution between the two groups (p = 0.625). Nausea was the most frequently reported adverse effect followed by diarrhea and abdominal pain in both groups. Patients receiving Exjade(®) had a higher relative reduction of SF at the end of the study compared with the Osveral(®) group (19.9% versus 9.93%, p = 0.028). SC was found to be significantly higher in the Osveral(®) group than in the Exjade(®) group throughout the study period. The mean platelet count was higher in the Exjade(®) group. ALT was significantly higher among patients receiving Osveral(®) over the last three months of the study. CONCLUSIONS: Exjade(®) showed a better ability to reduce SF, with less liver toxicity, and better hemostasis profile. No congenital anomalies associated with short-term use of both drugs during pregnancy were observed or reported.