Teva Pharmaceuticals has stopped shipping its generic version of a popular antidepressant after a federal analysis showed the pill does not work properly.
The FDA said Wednesday it asked Teva to withdraw Budeprion XL 300 after new testing showed the drug releases its key ingredient faster than the original drug Wellbutrin XL 300, made by GlaxoSmithKline.
A spokeswoman for Teva said the company stopped shipping the drug last Thursday. The action contradicts the FDA’s previous update on the issue in 2008, when regulators said the drugs are essentially the same. That review came after hundreds of patients complained that Teva’s drug did not work as well or caused side effects such as headaches, anxiety and insomnia.
In 2007, the website ConsumerLab published an analysis of the two drugs, indicating Budeprion XL released 34 percent of its active ingredient in just two hours, compared to 8 percent for the original drug.
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