Are Branded and Generic Extended-Release Ropinirole Formulations Equally Efficacious? : A Rater-Blinded, Switch-Over, Multicenter Study

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of the branded and a generic extended-release ropinirole formulation in the treatment of advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD). Of 22 enrolled patients 21 completed the study. A rater blinded to treatment evaluated Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor Rating Scale, Nonmotor Symptoms Assessment Scale, and a structured questionnaire on ropinirole side effects. Besides, the patients self-administered EQ-5D, Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS-2), and Beck Depression Inventories. Branded and generic ropinirole treatment achieved similar scores on all tests measuring severity of motor symptoms (primary endpoint, UPDRS-III: 27.0 versus 28.0 points, P=0.505). Based on patient diaries, the lengths of “good time periods” were comparable (10.5 and 10.0 hours for branded and generic ropinirole, resp., P=0.670). However, generic ropinirole therapy achieved almost 3.0 hours shorter on time without dyskinesia (6.5 versus. 9.5 hours, P<0.05) and 2.5 hours longer on time with slight dyskinesia (3.5 versus. 1.0 hours, P<0.05) than the branded ropinirole did. Except for gastrointestinal problems, nonmotor symptoms were similarly controlled. Patients did not prefer either formulation. Although this study has to be interpreted with limitations, it demonstrated that both generic and branded ropinirole administration can achieve similar control on most symptoms of PD

Are branded and generic extended-release ropinirole formulations equally efficacious? A rater-blinded, switch-over, multicenter study

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of the branded and a generic extended-release ropinirole formulation in the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). Of 22 enrolled patients 21 completed the study. A rater blinded to treatment evaluated Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor Rating Scale, Nonmotor Symptoms Assessment Scale, and a structured questionnaire on ropinirole side effects. Besides, the patients self-administered EQ-5D, Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS-2), and Beck Depression Inventories. Branded and generic ropinirole treatment achieved similar scores on all tests measuring severity of motor symptoms (primary endpoint, UPDRS-III: 27.0 versus 28.0 points, P = 0.505). Based on patient diaries, the lengths of "good time periods" were comparable (10.5 and 10.0 hours for branded and generic ropinirole, resp., P = 0.670). However, generic ropinirole therapy achieved almost 3.0 hours shorter on time without dyskinesia (6.5 versus. 9.5 hours, P < 0.05) and 2.5 hours longer on time with slight dyskinesia (3.5 versus. 1.0 hours, P < 0.05) than the branded ropinirole did. Except for gastrointestinal problems, nonmotor symptoms were similarly controlled. Patients did not prefer either formulation. Although this study has to be interpreted with limitations, it demonstrated that both generic and branded ropinirole administration can achieve similar control on most symptoms of PD

The competitive impact of hypermarket retailers on gasoline prices

Hypermarkets are large retail suppliers of general merchandise or grocery items that also sell gasoline, often at very low margins. Using panel data for 1998-2002, this paper estimates the impact of hypermarkets on average state-level retail gasoline prices. The empirical results suggest a robust, economically (and statistically) significant effect of increased competition from hypermarkets. Furthermore, the results also suggest that refiners’ lower the delivered wholesale prices charged to their affiliated lessee-dealer and open-dealer stations in response to increased hypermarket competition, which in turn translates to lower retail (street) prices. The presence of a state motor fuel sales-below-cost (SBC) law may lessen the price-reducing effects from hypermarket competition by 40-67 percent while independently imparting no other offsetting price reductions. Finally, using recently published estimates of the short-run own price elasticity of demand for gasoline, consumer welfare is estimated to have increased in the neighborhood of $488 million over the sample period.Dealer tank wagon; Hypermarkets; Motor fuel SBC laws; Petroleum; Vertical integration

Catching up in pharmaceuticals: a comparative study of India and Brazil

Since the mid-twentieth century, the national objective of India and Brazil has been to develop industrial capabilities in essential sectors such as pharmaceuticals. At the outset, they shared some common features: a considerable period of lax intellectual property rights regimes, large internal market and a reasonably strong cadre of scientists and engineers. However, over fifty years, India has had much more success in building indigenous capabilities in pharmaceuticals than Brazil, at least to date. Why? In exploring the answer to this question, we show that in both countries the design of State policy played a crucial role and the endogenous responses in the national system of innovation consisted of two parts. On the one hand, most of the time, the predicted and desired outcome was partially realized and on the other hand, there were invariably, other unpredicted responses that emerged. The latter unexpected elements, which were specific to the two countries, pushed them along distinctive trajectories.Pharmaceutical industry, India, Brazil, industrial capabilities, Catching up, Technology transfer

Market Share and Price Setting Behavior For Private Labels and National Brands

In this paper, we develop a framework for estimating market share and price reaction equations in an attempt to understand the nature of competitive interaction in the market for private label and branded grocery products. Specifically, we employ a Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS, Deaton and Muellbauer 1980a), and specify the price reaction equations derived under the LA/AIDS demand specification. This enables us to consistently estimate shareprice relationships, accounting for demand-side and competitive reactions simultaneously. The incorporation of LA/AIDS demands into a structural equation framework represents an important departure from previous demand specifications in competitive analysis. In addition to its rigorous foundation in utility theory, LA/AIDS demands are especially flexible for demand-side estimation, provide consistent reaction functions on the supply side, and have particularly nice aggregation properties. In order to test the relative contribution of employing a flexible LA/AIDS functional form on the demand-side, and in a preliminary attempt to assess manufacturer-retailer interaction on the supply side, we compare our general framework (LA/AIDS demands with retailers following a proportional markup rule) to two alternative models of manufacturer-retailer interaction: Chois (1991) Manufacturer-Stackelberg (M-S) model under linear demands, as well as Shubik demands under Stackelberg conduct (Raju, Sethuraman and Dhar 1995a, 1995b). We first apply the proposed LA/AIDS framework to a sample pooled across 125 categories and 54 geographic markets in an attempt to produce result that generalize across the entire sample. We then estimate all three models using data on seven individual categories: bread, milk, pasta, yogurt, instant coffee, butter and margarine. We conclude that the LA/AIDS demand specification is preferred to the alternative linear demand specifications. Further, the empirical findings support our premise that consumer response to price and promotion decisions (demand) and the factors influencing firm pricing behavior (supply) jointly determine observed market prices and market shares. Most importantly, our specification with LA/AIDS demands produced excellent overall fits, as well as reasonable demand and price response elasticities.competition, competitive strategy, private labels, pricing, Demand and Price Analysis, Industrial Organization,

Attitudes and acceptance of South African urban consumers towards genetically modified white maize

The introduction of genetically modified (GM) food products to food markets around the world, has led to considerable controversy. In many cases consumer attitudes and perceptions of GM food products were revealed as fears, concern for, and avoidance of the new technology. The importance of GM foods in South Africa is increasing, even though the GM Food debate lags behind many other (often more developed) parts of the world. This paper investigates the knowledge, attitudes and acceptance of urban South African white-grain maize consumers regarding GM maize. Conjoint- and cluster analysis were used to develop clusters/market segments among the urban consumers of white maize. A range of additional questions was used to develop profiles of the identified market segments. These aspects covered demographics, GM knowledge aspects as well as GM attitude aspects. Four distinct clusters/market segments were identified with specific characteristics: "Anti-GM, Brand aware" cluster (35% of valid responses), "Brand unaware, Farmer sympathetic" cluster (20%), "GM consumer benefit, Brand aware" cluster (25%) and the "Brand aware, Pro-GM" cluster (20%). The most significant differences between the clusters were based on the consumers' attitudes towards GM food products.Consumer/Household Economics,

Pengaruh Citra Merek Dan Gaya Hidup Terhadap Keputusan Pembelian Produk Tas Branded Tiruan Pada Wanita Karir Di Jakarta

Women aren't spared from the development of fashion and trends that occur around them. Especially the fashion trends, the producers create products that can attract career women. This is because career women have more ability to buy goods that can improve her class. This research aims to determine the influence of brand image and lifestyle on purchasing decisions imitation branded bags on the career woman in Jakarta. The population in this research is the career woman who likes to use a branded bag. Samples used were as many as 100 people. The sampling technique using is purposive sampling. To answer the problem formulation, purpose and hypothesis of this study, the analysis employed is IBMSPSS Ver. 21.0. Based on the analysis IBMSPSS Ver. 21.0 can be concluded that brand image have positive and significant impact on purchasing decisions. Then lifestyle has positive and significant impact on purchasing decisions

Generic Scrip Share and the Price of Brand-Name Drugs: The Role of the Consumer

Generic drug utilization has risen dramatically, from 19% of scrips in 1984 to 47% in 2001, thus bringing significant direct dollar savings. Generic drug use may also yield indirect savings if it lowers the average price of those brand-name drugs that are still purchased. Prior work indicates - and we confirm - that generic competition does not induce brand-name producers to lower prices. However, consumer choices between generic and brand-name drugs could affect the average price of those brand-name drugs that are purchased. We use nationally representative panel data on drug utilization and costs for the years 1996-2001 to examine how the share of an individual's prescriptions filled by generics affects his average out-of-pocket cost for brand-name drugs. Our principal finding is that a higher generic scrip share lowers average brand-name prices to consumers, presumably because consumers are more likely to substitute generics when the price gap is great. This effect is substantial: a 10% increase in the consumer's generic scrip share is associated with a 15.6% decline in the average price he pays for brand-name drugs.

DIFFERENCES IN U.S. CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR CERTIFIED PORK CHOPS WHEN FACING BRANDED VS. NON-BRANDED CHOICES

Consumers' preferences for credence attributes of a product may differ from each other, when facing the choices between branded and/or non-branded products. We test this hypothesis with conditional and mixed logit regression using data obtained by choice experiment surveys. The results suggest that, on average, consumers are willing to pay more for a certification attribute when the product is branded. Additionally, greater variation in consumer willingness-to-pay is observed in the non-branded case. This latter characteristic of the results may represent the increased uncertainty some consumers internalize concerning quality consistency when brand information is not provided. These results have interesting implications for producers, processors, retailers, and policy makers.Consumer/Household Economics,