Generics: according to the requirements of the Health System

In a country where the socio-economic conditions determine most of the decisions of its inhabitants, and where a significant part of the population does not have access to some medications because of its cost, Merck has responded to the needs of the Colombia Health system and has opened the possibility for the patient to purchase quality products at a reasonable cost-benefit relation.

Another virtue of the Merck brand in Colombia is that its products are among the few generics in the domestic market that can demonstrate bioequivalence and bioavailability studies; which means that it can be proven that these products have a therapeutic behavior equal to the one of the original molecule.

The bioavailability describes the way the medication is distributed and eliminated from the body, whereas the bioequivalence implies the demonstration that active ingredient, the doses and the bioavailability of the generic are equal to those of the original medication.

In August 2007, the headquarters sold the generics line to Mylan, a global pharmaceutical company with a leading position in that market. This decision was taken based on the fact that Merck wanted to deepen more its research and also needed to continue to expand Generics: the company decided to focus on CHC and Ethicals, this way allowing Generics to be developed through Mylan. Although this line no longer works as a business unit in the headquarters, worldwide, in Latin America and some countries from East and Eastern Europe Merck still has representation of this product portfolio.