Profasi (HCG) no longer available?

March 27, 2003

I've been trying to get Profasi (HCG) from several pharmacies but

they all said that the drug is no longer available from the

manufacturer. It seems that the drug maker Sorono has stopped making

Profasi and replaced it with a new drug called Ovidrel.

Here is what Sorono says about Ovidrel at its website:

" Ovidrel® (choriogonadotropin alfa for injection) is the only

recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin (r-hCG) approved in the

world. It is manufactured to the highest standards of purity using

recombinant DNA technology. Ovidrel® is the only hCG available for

subcutaneous (just under the skin) injection in the United States.

Other hCG products available in the U.S. are extracted from human

urine and require deeper, intramuscular injections. "

I looked into the Ovidrel's prescribing information to see if it's

used for hypogonadism in men but saw no mention of it at all. It

also seems that they have no clinical trials for hypogonadal men. So

I am not sure if this drug is any good for us. One of the pharmacy

recommends me to the generic version of HCG, Pregnyl, but they would

need a new prescription from my doctor. That shows me that the drug

is not exactly the same.

I am interested in finding out what other brand of HCG that other men

use and if you use Profasi what you're going to do. Has anyone been

using the new drug Ovidrel? If you have information about Ovidrel

treatment for hypogonadism in men, please let me know as well.

Thanks a lot guys.

Dan

March 27, 2003

I've been using Profassi from Serono for many years but recently (2 months

ago) I started getting HCL from my HMO Providers Pharmacy:

Novarel (Chorionic Gonadotrophin for Injection) 10,000 USP units 10ml this

product is made by: Ferring Phamaceuticals.

Didn't think anything of it, just thought they used a different

Phamaceuticals company till I read this post.

Theoretically, Ovidrel should work the same but I'm no expert. From what I've