Myasthenia Gravis Support Group

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neuromuscular disease leading to fluctuating muscle weakness and fatiguability. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness that increases during periods of activity and improves after periods of rest. Although myasthenia gravis may affect any voluntary muscle, muscles that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, and...

1,709 Members
7,414 Posts
0 Online
Muscles & Bones
/ Myasthenia Gravis Support Group

Cellcept vs Myfortic

arniebb2
arniebb2
Does anyone know if there is any basic difference between these two? My neuro started me on Myfortic last week, along with a reduction in Prednisone from 30mg to 25mg and in three months down to 20mg. I had to be taken off Imuran a month ago due to high liver enzymes which have since normalized.

I love this site and you guys and have been reading every post since I joined in March. Thank you for being here.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Since Myfortic doesn't have a generic version like Cellcept, it is more expensive. So, Novartis is pushing to use it instead of Cellcept to deliver the mycophenolate. They added an enteric coating and made a slight variation in the formula--but the underlying med is mycophenolate.

Ask your doctor if he was "persuaded" to prescribe Myfortic instead of generic cellcept--April 2013 lawsuit:
"The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, contended that Novartis promised rebates and discounts to 20 or more pharmacies if they would persuade doctors to switch patients to Myfortic from CellCept, or to keep patients on Myfortic after the cheaper generic versions of CellCept reached the market"
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/business/us-accuses-novartis-of-providing-kickbacks.html
cgreens
cgreens
Interesting stuff Russ...


arnie,

Myfortic and cellcept (Roche) are different brands (probably compositions also) for Mycophenolic acid as Russ explained. All the successful studies I have seen were been done with Cellcept, not Novartis. Roche is not a Mega corp like Novartis either.

I hope everything turns out fine. Nobody want liver issues.
arniebb2
arniebb2
Oh my Russ...how awful. I will certainly mention this to my neuro next time I see him. And yes, very expensive at $550.00 per month, though fortunately it is covered. Thank you for this information.

Thank you cgreens, I continue to have blood work done every two weeks and hopefully this will not affect my liver!

Be well.