ArticleThe Brazilian journal of infectious diseases : an official publication of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases
Clinical and economic impact of generic versus brand name meropenem use in an intensive care unit in Colombia.
Article in The Brazilian journal of infectious diseases : an official publication of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Clinical Equivalence between Generic Versus Branded Antibiotics: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Impact of Generic Entry on Hospital Antimicrobial Use: A Retrospective Quasi-Experimental Interrupted Time Series Analysis.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Comparison of Pharmaceutical Characteristics between Brand-Name Meropenem and Its Generics.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRecent studies suggest that sustained use of generic antibiotics may be associated with clinical failure and emergence of antibacterial resistance. The present study was designed to determine the clinical outcome between the use of generic meropenem (GM) and brand-name meropenem (BNM). Additionally, this study evaluated the economic impact of GM and BNM to determine if the former represents a cost-effective alternative to the latter.
methodsPatients treated between January 2011 and May 2014 received GM while patients treated between June 2014 and March 2017 received BNM. Mortality was compared between groups. Total infection cost was defined by the cost of antimicrobial consumption, length of stay, and laboratory and imaging exams until infection resolution.
findingsA total of 168 patients were included; survival rate for the 68 patients treated with GM was 38% compared to 59% in the patients treated with BNM. Multivariate analysis showed that the variables most strongly-associated with mortality were cardiovascular disease (OR 18.18, 95% CI 1.25-262.3, p = 0.033) and treatment with generic meropenem (OR 18.45, 95% CI 1.45-232.32, p = 0.024). On the other hand, total infection cost did not show a significant difference between groups (BNM $10,771 vs. GM $11,343; p = 0.91).
interpretationThe present study suggests that patients treated with GM have a risk of death 18 times higher compared to those treated with BNM. Furthermore, economic analysis shows that GM is not more cost effective than BNM. SUMMARY: More studies measuring clinical outcomes are needed to confirm the clinical equivalence of brand-name versus generic antibiotics, not only for meropenem but also for other molecules.
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