It's a scam. Astellas owns both Adenoscan (Adenosine) and Lexiscan. There were 2 patents for Adenoscan. The first patent that recently expired in May 2009 dictated end user of the product to only use brand Adenoscan in Myocardial Perfusion Imaging (MPI). This means you couldn't take a bunch of generic Adenosine vials and mix it for MPI stress test.
The 2nd patent deals with continuous infusion of Adenosine in 13 or 15 different situations (Stress Test included) where if adenosine is involved in CI, then it has to be brand Adenoscan...this patent expires in 2013 in which Teva challenged in court. Instead of fighting this, Astellas settled out of court and is allowing Teva to manufacture large vial generic Adenosine in 2011 or 2012 which can be used in Stress Test and CI situations.
In order to protect themselves, Astellas is feverishly marketing Lexiscan to position themselves with continuous revenue by having Lexiscan added to hospitals throughout the country. They are doing this by pricing it about $10 cheaper than Adenoscan 30ml vials.
Generic Adenosine would cost around $50 per stress test..where brand Adenoscan 30ml costs around $190...and Lexiscan at around $180. The pricing may vary according to GPO.
Thanks for reading.
