2 questions really.
First, how long does it take for a new drug to be available as a generic?
Second, how can I find out when my scripts will avail. in generic form? (2 are brand-only now)
A patent lasts for 17 years. But drugs are not necessarily put on the market when the patent is issued. This sometimes takes many years. So the question of when any individual drug’s patent will expire depends on the individual drug.
Drug companies can also extend patents in certain cases if changes are made. There has been controversy over this and the FDA seems to be cracking down on what appear to be abuses of the system.
The only way to know about the drugs you’re interested in is to name them and see if anyone has information about their patent date.
Allrighty then. Thanks for the response. First question is answered. (New one, why 17 years? Seems an odd number for a patent.)
Anyway, the two in question are Straterra and Trileptal (no, I’m not epileptic).
So does anyone know when they are scheduled to be available as generic?
No, but I think that googling will likely produce the answers you’re looking for.
In the spirit of GQ:
Straterra got it’s patent in Nov. of 2002 according to Lilly, so that would put the expiration around Nov. 2019, correct? Sounds like a wait.
Better news on the Trileptal front, but the situation is a bit more complex. It should be expiring soon, but also they’re trying for some certain extensions as well as getting more patents for “marketed formulations.”
Here’s from Novaritis’s SEC filing:
“Trileptal. Patent protection for Trileptal’s active ingredient has expired in major countries. In the
US, New Chemical Entity data exclusivity under the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984 is currently
scheduled to expire in January 2005. However, we have applied for a six-month extension of this
exclusivity period under the Hatch-Waxman pediatric exclusivity provisions. At the same time, we
have pending patent filings relating to our marketed formulations of Trileptal, which, if granted,
would expire in 2018 in major countries, including the US.”
Yes, I know google is my friend. However, after trying twice I’m either not hitting the right keywords, or not in the right sequence. I’m used to Jeeves where you just type in a basic question and it does the rest. I, apparently, just suck at using google.
But I do appreciate you finding it for me.
The Trileptal is for the highs in my bipolar and it’s absolutely a godsend. No side effects, not to mention nothing to worry about like lithium-users have. I’ll bet my Pugs that that’s the use they’re going for in extension. Not germaine, just want to be the first to say what else it’ll be used for. 
Thanks again, threemae
Right, but it should only be a 6-month extension, if that, and a patent on “marketed formulations” which means that although generics may not be an exact copy of the “active ingredient” or compound which really defines this drug, it will still have all of the relavant characteristics.