That is in line with the cost we are charged for Vanco (maybe a little higher)–pill form/ANI brand. We have fortunately got our insurer to cover it so far so I am “only” out of pocket up to our $6K deductible each year (still high cost but manageable).
My son gets Firvanq reconstituted liquid. He takes 1500 mg per day (500 mgx3). 1 bottle of the liquid lasts 14 days, and we pay $217/bottle. So, we spend about $434/month and this is NOT covered by his insurance.
I would say look first at the ANI and Firvanq advice, also be aware though that you can get drugs compounded at a ‘compounding pharmacy’ where they make it on site at a third of the price or so (but there is the equivalence problem, I don’t know if anyone has had issues with compounded version not working?). Also check on the IV product form, thats what I take. Its a powder designed for intravenous use, but is the same stuff thats in the pill or liquid. The product label even says you can take it orally for c difficile. It might be cheaper (or more expensive, none of the pricing makes any logical sence). Maybe get a letter from your US doc to take to your Canadian doc(s) and see if you can loosen up their prescription pad and get it at hopefull cheaper Canadian price.
The price is correct. The good news is that vancomycin is vancomycin, and you can take either pill form or iv powder orally.
Pills are easy to take, but are about 10x as expensive as IV powder. Some patients also run into therapeutic equivalence issues with the generics due to different rates of dissolution of the gel caps. Potential ways around this latter point is to source Ani pills (their generic is the same as name brand Vancocin) or to take with food and pop open the gel caps before swallowing.
IV vanco taken orally is typically sourced at a compounding pharmacy as a liquid. This is probably the route you want to go if you are paying out of pocket as it is significantly cheaper. I did this ~7 years ago and the price varied from $200-400 a month for 1000mg/day. The downside is that liquid drugs are a bit more inconvenient to deal with on a day to day basis. Also note that this wipes out the good bacteria in your mouth and may necessitate additional trips to the dentist to remove non-permanent stains and additional plaque buildup. As far as the process: look up local compounding pharmacies and give them a call to see if they can compound iv vanco for oral use. If so, ask for a price and how they want the prescription written (you usually need a different script from the doctor). Price can be variable, so call around.
Liquid Firvanq is a more formal alternative to compounded IV vanco, though I believe it is typically a bit more expensive.
Good afternoon,
My son (now 9) was diagnosed with PSC-UC in 2020. He has done tremendously well with no systems after going on Vanco (which he still takes). His twin brother has just been diagnosed with Chron’s. No liver issues or PSC.
Doctor is recommending biologics. Any recommendations or thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks
STLBluejay,
Welcome back. So sorry his brother has something to deal with now. Glad his brother has been doing so well.
As I have had no experience with biologics, I am not able to advise.
Hopefully some of our members have had some good experience and will share their advice.
Jeff