Generic Famvir approved

The drug company Aurobindo Pharma reported yesterday that they had received final Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to produce a generic version of the Famvir genital herpes treatment.

The company’s famciclovir tablets are now ready for commercial sale, the company reports.

Famvir is produced by Novartis Pharmaceuticals. First approved in 1996, the treatment soon became a popular treatment for genital herpes, a condition that one in six American adults live with.

While there is currently no cure for the herpes simplex virus 2, which causes genital herpes, treatments such as Famvir can help to reduce the severity of outbreaks, making herpes sores and lesions less painful, and helping to reduce the risk of the virus being passed on to a partner.

Famvir had a market of $175 million for the twelve months ending September 2010.

Generic medications can legally be produced once a brand name drug’s patent has expired. A significant patent expiry will be that of the erectile dysfunction medication, Viagra, which runs out next year (although Pfizer have sought extensions). Once the patent on Viagra has expired, there is expected to be an influx of generic impotence treatment pills onto the pharmaceutical market.

Genital herpes is a lifelong condition, but health campaigners say that living with it does not have to be unmanageable or a constant worry. On the website of British organization Herpes Virus Association, it states: “Herpes Virus Association website says: “web sites may exaggerate the worst cases and seek to make you believe herpes is a big deal. Don\'t be fooled. It\'s as big a deal as you want to make it.”