I want prices for these 7 medicines below from Argentina. I want
retail prices for brandname as well as generic equivalent (if
available). Retailprices can be obtained by going to any pharmacy in
buenos aires/Argentina.
I also want to know who the distributor is for each medicine (name,
address, telephone number). If distributor/supplier info is not
available then I need manufacturer.

---

Clarification of Question by mick_healy-ga on 28 May 2005 04:47 PDT

the 7 medicines i want retails prices for are:
Carisoprodol			Soma 350mg 
Diazepam			Valium 10mg
Zopiclone 			Imovane 7.5 mg
Alprazolam			Xanax 1mg
Topiramate			Ultram 5mg
Sibutramine			Meridia 10mg         
Zolpidem tartrate		ambien 10mg

---

Request for Question Clarification by elmarto-ga on 28 May 2005 12:06 PDT

Hello Mick,
Most of the brandnames you mention don't exist in Argentina.
Specifically, I was only able to find Valium, Xanax and Imovane in
pharmacies here in Buenos Aires. However, there are several other
brands that manufacture medicines with the drugs you mention
(carisoprodol, topiramate, etc). Are you interested in retail prices
and manufacturer information for these other brands?

Best regards,
elmarto

---

Clarification of Question by mick_healy-ga on 28 May 2005 17:09 PDT

Yes, I will be satisfied if I can get price and supplier/distributor
information for generics instead (products with same active
ingredient).

   I am going to Argentina soon and I need someone who can spanish to
help me (I will pay you of course for whatever you do) - if possible
please contact me at:

yahoo messenger:    john_dominic2003
msn messenger:      johnterryjr at hotmail .com (can also be used as email address)

NB Please also note my other question for 100 USD where I request
wholesale/distributor info and prices for these 7 medicines. It
appears that they only give out those prices if the request comes from
a pharmacy...so maybe you can go there and get the prices that way
somehow (eiuther askign a pharmacy directly for their prices and/or
asking a pharmacy to make the phonecall.

Hi mick_healy!!


I live in Buenos Aires an started my research using the "Subsecretaría
de Defensa del Consumidor" site from the Ministerio de Economia y
Produccion(Ministery of Economy and Production):
http://www.mecon.gov.ar/secdef/default1.htm


This site has a list of retail prices for several medicines, but the
only one of the requested by you included in such list was Diazepam:
http://www.mecon.gov.ar/secdef/medicamentos/Diazepam.xls

In the case that you want to use this tool for other researches visit:
http://www.mecon.gov.ar/secdef/medicamentos/por_generico.htm
or 
http://www.mecon.gov.ar/secdef/medicamentos/por_marca.htm


The next sources were the most useful, they confirm the results for
diazepam and also gave the prices for the other products. Based on
those results I did an additional research for distributors and/or
manufacturers.
These sources were KAIROS site (a magazine for the pharmacy industry
in South America) and one of the most reputed chain of pharmacies here
in Argentina (Farmacias Zona Vital), I directly asked Zona vital
people for the prices of the brands that you requested (if available)
and the most popular brand/presentation of each drug. I also search
prices for the requested drug's concentrations with only one exception
(topiramate) that will be clarified later. I used those results to
make the list for this answer and confirmed the prices and
presentations at Kairos site. Note that the retail prices (without
discounts for prepaid medicine services) at Kairos are the blue prices
beside the description of the presentation.
To relate a product to a distributor I have searched in the
Distributor's clients pages and checked if the manufacturer is listed
as a client in that page. In the cases when the manufacturer is not
listed in any distributor page I marked the distributor entry as N/A.

Here are the results (prices are in Argentine pesos and its equivalent
in US dollars at current exchange rate of $2.90 per dollar):

- Diazepam 10mg:
·Valium:
Presentation ---> 30comp. ---> $26.74 ---> U$9.22
Manufacturer: Productos Roche S.A.Q.e I. 
Distributor: Rofina S.A.I.C.F
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=4572

·Plidan:
Presentation ---> 20comp. ---> $15.75 ---> U$5.43
Manufacturer: Roemmers S.A.I.C.F.
Distributor: Rofina S.A.I.C.F
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=3499



- Zopiclone 7.5mg:
·Imovane:
Presentation ---> 30comp. ---> $45.68 ---> U$15.75
Manufacturer: Aventis Pharma S.A. 
Distributor: N/A (probably Disprofarma - see Zolpidem section)
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=2230

·Imsomnium:
Presentation ---> 30comp. ---> $29.80 ---> U$10.28
Manufacturer: Gador S.A. 
Distributor: Farmanet S.A.
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=2272



- Carisoprodol 350mg:
·ListaFlex:
Presentation ---> 20comp. ---> $22.29 ---> U$7.69
Manufacturer: Finadiet S.A.C.I.F.I. Esp. Med. 
Distributor: Rofina S.A.I.C.F
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=6800



- Sibutramine 10mg:
·Ipomex:
Presentation ---> 20comp. ---> $32.00 ---> U$11.03
Manufacturer: Ivax Argentina S.A.
Distributor: Disprofarma S.A.
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=10985

·Aderan:
Presentation ---> 30comp. ---> $40.00 ---> U$13.79
Manufacturer: Roemmers S.A.I.C.F.
Distributor: Rofina S.A.I.C.F
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=11708

·Sacietyl:
Presentation ---> 30comp. ---> $41.50 ---> U$14.31
Manufacturer: Finadiet S.A.C.I.F.I. Esp. Med.
Distributor: Rofina S.A.I.C.F
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=8969



- Zolpidem tartrate 10mg:
·Sumenam:
Presentation ---> 30comp. ---> $19.78 ---> U$6.82
Manufacturer: Spedrog Caillon S.A.I.y C.
Distributor: N/A
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=4168

·Somit:
Presentation ---> 30comp. ---> $24.90 --->U$8.59
Manufacturer: Gador S.A. 
Distributor: Farmanet S.A.
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=4969

·Durnit:
Presentation ---> 10 comp. ---> $10.00 ---> U$3.45
             ---> 30 comp. ---> $25.90 ---> U$8.93
Manufacturer: Lab. Sanofi Synthelabo de Argentina S.A. (same contact
info than Aventis Pharma)
Distributor: Disprofarma S.A.  
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=6217



- Alprazolam 1mg:
·Xanax:
Presentation ---> 30 comp. ---> $14.63 ---> U$5.04
             ---> 60 comp. ---> $25.74 ---> U$8.88
Manufacturer: Pfizer Argentina S.R.L.
Distributor: Disprofarma S.A.
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=4738

·Alplax:
Presentation ---> 30 comp. ---> $13.69 ---> U$4.72
             ---> 60 comp. ---> $24.81 ---> U$8.56
Manufacturer: Gador S.A. 
Distributor: Farmanet S.A.
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=186



- Topiramate ?mg:
It is not a typo the "?" mark. The requested concentration of 5mg is
not available here in Argentina. The availables concentrations are
25mg, 50mg and 100mg, and the commercial brands are:
·Neutop from Laboratorio Elea S.A.C.I.F.y A. (Dist. DISPROFARMA)
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=15839

·Topamac from Janssen-Cilag Farmacéutica S.R.L. (Dist. N/A, probably
Farmanet since this company distributes for Johnson & Jhonson and the
manufacturer is part of Johnson & Jhonson)
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=8278

·Topictal from Laboratorio Raffo S.A. (Dist. DISPROFARMA)
http://www.kairosweb.com/medicamentos/listprecios.asp?prodcode=14773


This ends the price list part of the question.

           ----------------------------

Manufacturers list:

Productos Roche S.A.Q.e I.
Rawson 3150 (Panamericana - Ruta 9, km 34,5) 
B1610BAL - Ricardo Rojas 
Partido de Tigre, Buenos Aires 
Argentina 
Tel: 5129-8000 
Fax: 5129-8011
http://www.roche.com.ar


Roemmers S.A.I.C.F.
Fray Justo Sarmiento 2350
B1636AKJ - Olivos -
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Tel: (54-11) 4346-9700 Fax:(54-11) 4334-9715/17                    
http://www.roemmers.com.ar


Aventis Pharma S.A. 
Av. Int. Tomkinson 2054 
(1642) San Isidro - Bs.As. 
Tel: (54-11) 4732-5000 ; (54-11) 4732-5467 
http://www.aventispharma.com.ar


Gador S.A.
Darwin 429
(1414) City of Buenos Aires - Argentina
Tel. (54-11) 4858-9000
E-mail: info@gador.com.ar
http://www.gador.com.ar/home.htm


Finadiet S.A.C.I.F.I. Esp. Med. 
Hipólito Yrigoyen 3771 
(1208) City of Buenos Aires - Argentina
Tel: (54-11) 4981-5444/5544/5644/0860/0201 
             4983-0930 
http://www.finadiet.com.ar/index.htm


Ivax Argentina S.A. 
J.J.Castelli 6701 
(1605) Munro, Bs.As. 
Tel: (54-11) 4721-8100


Spedrog Caillon S.A.I.y C. 
Alte. F. J. Seguí 2106 
(1416) City of Buenos Aires - Argentina 
Tels: (54-11) 4644-5944/5947 4581-9984 4582-0411 
              4644-5946/4585-2929 


Pfizer Argentina S.R.L.
Virrey Loreto 2477 
(1426) City of Buenos Aires - Argentina 
Tel: (54-11) 4788-7000 
http://www.pfizer.com.ar


Laboratorio Elea SACIFyA
Sanabria 2353 - C1417AZE ? 
City of Buenos Aires - Argentina
Phone (54-11) 4379-4300
http://www.laboratorioelea.com.ar/site/legal.asp 


Janssen-Cilag Farmacéutica S.R.L. 
Mendoza 1259 (1428) 
City of Buenos Aires - Argentina 
Tel: (54-11) 4789-7200  4784-4022 
http://www.janssen-cilag.com.ar/index.htm


Laboratorio Raffo S.A.
Avenida Cabildo 86, (1426) 
City of Buenos Aires - Argentina 
Tel: (54-11) 6347-7100.

            ------------------------

Distributors lists:

Disprofarma S.A.
Virrey Cevallos 1643- (1135) 
City of Buenos Aires - Argentina
Tel. (54-11) 4379-4350 ( int. 236)
email:info@disprofarma.com.ar
Home page:
http://www.disprofarma.com.ar/principal.php
Clients: 
http://www.disprofarma.com.ar/laboratorios.php



Farmanet S.A.
Av. del Libertador 498 piso 25
(C1001ABR) City of Buenos Aires, Argentina 
Tel: (54-11) 4814-7100
Fax: (54-11) 4814-7122/23 
Email: info@farmanet.net.ar 
Home Page:
http://www.farmanet.net.ar
Clients:
http://www.farmanet.net.ar/farmanet/web/Laboratorio.asp

ROFINA S.A.I.C.F.
Fray J. Sarmiento 2350
(B1636AKJ) Olivos - Buenos Aires
Tel: (54-11) 4344-9500
Fax: (54-11) 4344-9527
Home Page:
https://www.rofina.com.ar/inicio.asp
Clients:
https://www.rofina.com.ar/nuestros_clientes.asp


------------------------------------------------------------

I hope that this helps you. Feel free to request for any clarification
needed before rate this answer. I will gladly give you further
assistance on this if it is needed.

Best regards.
livioflores-ga

Superb answer. Much much better that I had hoped for. If yiou also
answer my 100 USd question regarding wholesale prices for those
medicines then I would be extremely happy. I am giving you 20 USD tip
for this answer.
   I hope you will send me an email to me soon so I can meet you when
in Buenos Aires because  can not speak spanish. My email address is
somewhere in this bid.

Thank you for the generous tip and the good comments and rating.
Unfortunately GA policies are against a direct contact with costumers,
so please use this forum for any request of help that you need by
posting it as a question. You can request for me by adding "To
livioflores" in the subject of the question and I will do the best to
give you the requested assistance.

Regarding to your other question I am working on it, but such
information is not easy to find for people that not work in the
pharmacy industry, and also for most of them. I will let you know
everything that I find.

I will look forward for your future question.

Thank you so much and best regards.

Sincerely, livioflores-ga