Generic orphan drug substitution: a critical analysis of global practices and Saudi Arabia's perspective.

In an era of cost pressure, substituting generic drugs represents one of the main cost-containment strategies of healthcare systems. Despite the obvious financial benefits, in a minority of cases, substitution may require caution or even be contraindicated. In most jurisdictions, to obtain approval, the bioequivalence of generic products with the brand-name equivalent needs to be shown via bioavailability studies in healthy subjects.

Clozapine-induced blood dyscrasias in Saudi Arab patients.

Background: Clozapine has shown superior efficacy over other antipsychotics. However, its use is complicated by the development of life-threatening hematologic adverse effects.

Objectives: This paper reports the incidence of clozapine-induced hematologic toxicity in Saudi Arab patients.