Generic Cymbalta - Is it available?

roberthall's comments are very important to keep in mind. My own experience with drugs coming off-patent bears out exactly what he is saying above. Count on Lilly to try to protect their monopoly on Cymbalta for as long as possible, as this is the best depression/anxiety/pain drug on the market for many people -- certainly the best SSRI/SNRI since Effexor, and its concomitant effect on body pain makes it a real blockbuster. My guess is that they will tweak the angle made by a bend in one protein molecule and call it a new brand drug, then claim their new patent prohibits manufacture of duloxetine (generic Cymbalta). This will of course wind up in court for a year or so, at least, and when they finally settle the case (legal expenses: cost of doing business), it will take the first generic manufacturer another year to come up to speed on manufacturing duloxetine and clearing the necessary paperwork with the FDA.

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They will cover the expense of this ramp-up period by charging almost as much for generic duloxetine as Lilly will be charging at that time for Cymbalta (which itself will be less than their "new, improved" version, of course). And why not? There would be still, at that juncture, no competition on the generic front. The first company out with a generic will charge what the market will bear.

So until there IS competition -- i.e., two or more generic manufacturers competing to manufacture and market duloxetine -- don't expect to see the price come down to realistic generic levels, with insurance plans starting to cover it in their low-copay generic drug tiers. My guess for when this might happen -- 2015. I could be wrong, and hope I am, but don't hold your breath.

One final note: You may find duloxetine on the Internet sourced from large seemingly legitimate (based on all available information) pharma companies in India, Turkey, and other technologically-developed countries. My personal experience with legit Indian drugs has been pretty positive (mostly so-called "lifestyle" drugs), but with insufficient cases on which to draw any kind of significant conclusion. In the case of Indian duloxetine, the cost is still pretty high for a retired person, comparable with typical Tier 3 coverage through a typical Medicare Advantage Plan — $40-$50 a month. (The US retail price, of course, is out of the question if you're retired and in the donut-hole.) If $40-$50 a month for 30 days of 60 mg/day sounds like a deal to you, you have the option of trying that — but I wouldn't. Too new, not enough track record, and technically, it's still illegal in the US to "import" prescription drugs. The safe choice is to wait it out for an FDA-approved US generic.

Just an FYI to anyone going through Eli Lilly's patient assistance program, be sure you understand that they will not send your RX to you. Instead, they will send it to your Doctor's office who then has to send it out to a pharmacy to be filled (which usually is a minimal charge for the pharmacy to fill it). If your Doctor's office will not send it to a pharmacy to be filled, you will not be able to get your medication. According to my Doctor, there are laws that prevent them from giving the RX directly to me which is why it must be sent out to a pharmacy. Eli Lilly will not, under any circumstances, send it to you or to the pharmacy directly (per Lilly Cares).

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Felt this should be passed on as I have had to personally deal with this issue of recent and having to stop Cymbalta abruptly is NOT a pleasant experience. This medication is extremely costly and if their aren't options available to you, this might not be the best option as the company makes it very difficult to get the RX through them and most Doctors are not able to sample their patients. I would just advise you to know what your options are because this is a horrible medicine to have to stop taking abruptly. In fact, I have been on this medicine for several years and while it has had its benefits, had I known that I would not be able to get the RX or a generic form of the RX, I would never have agreed to take this medicine.

I think Sofie712 meant to write "venlafaxine" (rather than "venaxine"). Venlafaxine is the generic for EFFEXOR (Wyeth/Pfizer), not for CYMBALTA.

CYMBALTA, which my wife has taken with tremendous success for several years now for depression and chronic pain, was a third-tier drug (non-preferred brand name, $70+ copay) on my insurance plan, but was reduced to second-tier status (preferred brand name, $36 copay) in 2012. So it is becoming more affordable to patients with decent insurance coverage. Without insurance help, it is still prohibitively expensive for most people. :-(

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I tried CYMBALTA myself for several months, but found it no more effective for my depression/anxiety than generic venlafaxine, which works very well for me and is much cheaper. Available either in immediate-release or extended-release form, venlafaxine has been a first-tier generic for years on most insurance plans, with typical copays of $10-$15 or less. (I pay only $4 a month for it on my Medicare Advantage HMO plan, which itself costs me nothing beyond the usual Part B medical premium that everybody in Medicare pays.) This is a very highly rated state-wide (New Mexico only) Medicare Advantage plan. The down-side is that there is no guarantee that the plan will stay more or less the same next year or the year after, or that it will even be offered. But right now, in 2013, it's great. :-)