The Impact of Potential Pill Splitting on Generic and Branded Finasteride Uptake

The study examined the impact of potential pill splitting on the uptake of generic and branded finasteride for the treatment of male pattern hair loss. The sales of generic finasteride significantly accelerated after launch, with much of the volume increase attributed to patients purchasing the much less expensive generic 5 mg finasteride and quartering the pills. However, pill splitting did not appear to impact sales of branded 1 mg finasteride, suggesting that patients who pill split may not have been prior users of branded 1 mg finasteride. The study concludes that differences in costs between the statutory and occupational health insurance systems for patients with chronic hand eczema can be explained by different treatment mixes, as direct costs are similar across treatment stages. Finally, the study demonstrates the feasibility of using a call center methodology to collect quality of life data in a clinical trial, resulting in high questionnaire completion and little missing data.