Generic formulation of Cyclosporine A, Equoral®, in de novo kidney transplant recipients: Five-year follow-up

Background:    Equoral® is a generic formulation of Cyclosporine A (CsA), which is significantly cheaper than the original medicine. Our center participated in the clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Equoral® in kidney transplant recipients in the first 9 months after a transplant procedure. The aim of our paper is to present the 5-year follow-up of patients who participated in the study and were monitored in our center.
    Material/Methods:    We performed intention-to-treat retrospective analysis of 20 de novo kidney transplant recipients who received Equoral®-based immunosuppressive regimen and were monitored in our department for 5 years after transplantation.
    Results:    The 5-year patient and graft survival was 90%, and the frequency of acute rejection was 15%. In 80% of patients, the initial immunosuppressive regimen had to be changed.
    Conclusions:    In our group of kidney transplant recipients, immunosuppression based on generic formulation of CsA had excellent 5-year patient and graft survival and effectively prevented acute rejection episodes. However, most patients needed modification of the initially administered immunosuppressive regimen.

Keywords: follow-up, Equoral®, kidney tranplantation, Cyclosporine A, patient survival