Breast Cancer Home > Generic Ellence
There is currently a generic Ellence available on the market. The FDA has given the medicine an "AP" rating, meaning it is equivalent to the brand-name version. However, it is important to know that generic Ellence products may contain different inactive ingredients than the brand-name drug.
Ellence® (epirubicin hydrochloride) is a prescription medication used to treat breast cancer. It is part of a group of chemotherapy medications called anthracyclines.
Ellence is made by Pfizer, Inc. The patents for Ellence have expired, and it is available in generic versions.
Generic Ellence is made by Mayne Pharma, a division of Hospira Worldwide.
All generic medications must undergo certain tests to compare them to brand-name medications. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) then looks at these tests to decide if the generics are equivalent to the brand-name medications and assigns each generic a rating. An "AP" rating for injectable products means that the FDA has determined that a generic medication is equivalent to a brand-name medication. All of the generic epirubicin versions currently available have an "AP" rating, meaning they should be equivalent to Ellence.
However, generic medications are allowed to have different inactive ingredients than the brand-name medication. This might include fillers or dyes or other ingredients that may cause problems for people with allergies or sensitivities.