Two high blood pressure, depression drugs to be withdrawn from market

Taipei, Aug. 19 (CNA) Two drugs used to treat high blood pressure and depression will be withdrawn from the Taiwan market in early 2025 and late 2024, according to the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA), which noted that locally produced generic drugs will fill the gap.

TFDA Deputy Director-General Wang Te-yuan (王德原) told reporters on Monday that the manufacturers have notified the agency that they will stop providing Aprovel 150 mg film-coated tablets and Prozac Dispersible 20 mg, an antihypertensive and an antidepressant, after December and November, respectively.

The two companies informed the TFDA on July 31 and June 24, respectively, Wang said.

However, Wang stressed that the moves will not impact the supply of the two drugs because they will be replaced by generic alternatives produced by local pharmaceutical companies.

Generic drugs are those that have the same effects as brand-name drugs and are produced by other qualified pharmaceutical manufacturers using the same ingredients and procedures after the original patents expire, according to the Taiwan Generic Pharmaceutical Association.

Aprovel 150 mg film-coated tablets accounted for 67 percent of Taiwan's market share in 2023, with 1.24 million tablets covered by National Health Insurance, said Tai Hsueh-yung (戴雪詠), an official at the National Health Insurance Administration's (NHIA) Medical Review and Pharmaceutical Benefits Division.

Tai said the company proposed on April 1 that the National Health Insurance Administration remove the 150 mg tablets from the NHI package, and replace them with drugs produced by the same company or other companies with the same ingredients.

Clinicians in Taiwan have affirmed that advice, noting that there are several generic drugs available, while the Pharmaceutical Benefit and Reimbursement Scheme Joint Committee approved the proposal during a June meeting, with the drug set to be removed from the NHI package in January 2025.

Tai noted that there are nine other drugs in the NHI package that contain the same active ingredients as Aprovel.

Meanwhile, the NHI package includes 11 alternatives to Prozac, which had a 15.3 percent market share in 2023 with 2.92 million tablets.

Nearly 40 years have passed since Prozac first entered the market, and the market share of generic versions in Taiwan has now reached 85 percent, Tai said.