Is S-Citadep the same thing as Lexapro?

December 3, 2007 7:40 AM

Is S-Citadep the same thing as Lexapro?

I have seen ads online for the drug Escitalopram Oxalate (marketed as S-Citadep) from the Indian pharmaceutical company Cipla. Is this the same thing as Lexapro? It seems to be at about 1/3 the cost of Lexapro, but am curious about the legality of making such a purchase, as well as whether or not it is reliably the same thing as what I'm taking.

posted by Gervais Brooke-Hamster to health & fitness (4 comments total)

The Lexapro patent is good until 2009, so there wont be any generics until then.

Cipra exists because its something of a pirate company that sidesteps patent laws. This article explains more.

I wouldnt put what they make in my body, fwiw.
posted by damn dirty ape at 9:31 AM on December 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

My doctor mentioned to me that there was a generic of Lexapro, but marked my prescription as not allowing generic substitutes: apparently they're not quite the same. (I don't know the specifics, though.)
posted by fogster at 10:04 AM on December 3, 2007

Mrs. Jeffamaphone, who is a pharmacy tech (but not your pharmacy tech), says "Escitalopram is the generic name for Lexapro and there is no generic for it yet. Citalopram is the generic for Celex."
posted by jeffamaphone at 11:51 AM on December 3, 2007

Fogster, your doctor's point was probabaly that escitalopram is just the L isomer of citalopram. Citalopram is, to a first approximation, a racemic mixture of the S and R isomers; escitalopram, unsurprisingly, is pure S-citalopram, which is more potent than the mixture is in terms of achieving the desired effect. So in fact, generic citalopram contains some escitalopram, but it also contains R-citalopram, which in my understanding probably causes side effects (and may in fact reduce the efficacy of the medication at the receptor) without conferring much benefit.

As far as the original poster's question, Lexapro is escitalopram. Since it's patent-protected here in the USA, obtaining it here in the USA from non-licensed producers breaks the law. Whether or not the stuff from the Indian chemical factory is what it says it is, and only what it says it is, is a question that I don't know the answer to. That's because no agency that I trust has power to inspect, regulate and test these Indian pharm factories.

Because I don't know the answer to that important question, I agree with "damn dirty ape" above, who wouldn't ingest that product.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:35 PM on December 3, 2007 [1 favorite]