Generic Clopidogrel Just as Safe, Effective

Generic clopidogrel is noninferior to name brand Plavix for the treatment of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) following hospitalization for ACS, according to the results of a recent study.

Although many healthcare providers have adopted generic clopidogrel in order to reduce healthcare costs, concerns remain about the generic drug’s effectiveness compared with its brand name counterpart.
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In order to compare the effectiveness of generic clopidogrel and Plavix, researchers conducted a study of ACS patients hospitalized in Ontario from 2009 to 2014, 12,643 of whom received Plavix and 11,887 of whom received 1 of 15 generic clopidogrel preparations. Eligible patients were aged 65 years or older and had survived at least 7 days following discharge. The composite of death and recurrent ACS at 1 year served as the primary outcome of the study.

At 1 year, 17.6% of patients prescribed Plavix and 17.9% of patients prescribed generic clopidogrel had either died or experienced recurrent ACS. No significant differences in rates of death, all-cause readmission, ACS, stroke or transient ischemic attack, or bleeding were observed between the groups.

“In conclusion, our large, population-based study found that there is no difference in major adverse cardiovascular outcomes at 1 year in patients with ACS prescribed generic clopidogrel after hospitalization compared with those prescribed Plavix. Our finding supports the use of generic clopidogrel in ACS, which could lead to substantial healthcare cost saving without diminishing clinical effectiveness,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Ko DT, Krumholz HM, Tu JV, et al. Clinical outcomes of Plavix and generic clopidogrel for patients hospitalized with an acute coronary syndrome [published online March 13, 2018]. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.117.004194.