Abstract

Background:Quinolonesarethefastestgrowingantibacterialagentsworldwideastheyarebeingusedinboththehospitalsand community practices to treat infections. Ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin dominate the market mostly, which together charge 65% ($3.3 billion) of global sales. Quinolones such as ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and moxifloxacin have been found to possess enormous market capacity and sales volume. FluoroquinolonesinIndiacomprise30%shareofGlobalPharmaceuticalsMarket counterparts.Aimsand
Objective:TofindoutthecostofvariousoralfluoroquinolonesavailableinIndiaeitherasasingledrug or in combination and to evaluate the difference in cost of various brands of same fluoroquinolone by calculating percentage variationincostinIndianrupees.MaterialandMethods:Costoforalfluoroquinolonesmanufacturedbydifferentcompanies,in thesamestrengthanddosageforms,wasobtainedfrom Current Index of Medical Specialties,July–October2014,andIndianDrug Review, Vol. XXI, Issue No. 4, 2014. The difference in the maximum and minimum price of the same drug manufactured by different pharmaceutical companies and percentage variation in price was calculated. Result: Percentage price variation for variousfluoroquinolones was as follows: ofloxacin (200 mg) 869%; sparfloxacin (200 mg) 648%; gemifloxacin (320 mg) 477%; norfloxacin (400 mg) 291%; ciprofloxacin (500 mg) 290%; levofloxacin (250 mg) 264%; lomefloxacin (400 mg) 104%; and moxifloxacin (400 mg) 60%. Among the combination therapy, price variation was norfloxacin + tinidazole (400 + 600 mg) 983%;ofloxacin+ cefixime(200+ 200mg)232%;levofloxacin+ ornidazole(250+ 500mg)211%;ofloxacin+ ornidazole (200 + 500 mg) 156.60%; and ciprofloxacin + tinidazole (500 + 600 mg) 150%. Conclusion: The average percentage price variation of different brands of same oralfluoroquinolones manufactured in India is very wide. As India is a developing country, clinicians must prescribe fluoroquinolones keeping in mind the cost of therapy.