One of these drops is not like the other

Two Danish ophthalmologists are warning that generic eye drops cannot be considered as identical to brand-name drops, after their new study.

Dr Miriam Kolko and Dr Peter Koch of the University Hospital Zealand compared the drop sizes, medication prices and volume of a variety of latanoprost products, including the brand-name Xalatan medication, available to Danish glaucoma patients.

Their research was presented at the European Glaucoma Society 2016 Congress (19–22 June, Prague).

They discovered that the drop sizes varied between 40 and 47 micro-millilitres, and the number of drops in the bottle ranged from 95–111 drops. They also found significant differences between the pH in the brand-name product, Xalatan, and its generic counterparts.

The researchers highlighted in the paper that: “With the current regulations, no requirements for efficacy testing are required, and as such, it is currently impossible to know if treatment with generic latanoprost products provides identical pressure-lowering effects.

“Overall, generic eye drops should not be considered identical to the original brand version, both in relation to compliance, comfort and intraocular pressure-lowering effect,” the pair concluded.