Generic drugs are medications that are manufactured and distributed without a patent. The generic drugs version can carry a patent on the constitution, but not the active ingredient. The history of generic products began during the 1970s when Al Williams left his job as a label lines manager and began his own business called Keynote Marketing.
He made twenty no-name generic drugs with a plain white label which were bought by curious chain stores in America. It didn’t take long for the major chains to follow suit. They started selling their own ‘house brand’ of products made by different manufacturers.
With regards to drugs, the main proviso is that generic drugs must include the precise active ingredient as the original formula. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) insists that generics meet the bioequivalent range of the original product’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic agents. What this simply means is that a generic must match the original in strength, efficacy, method of administration, safety, dose, and intended use.
Generics can only be issued when the patent attained by the brand company has terminated. When generics are released for public use, competition becomes fierce in the market. This results in cheap pricing of the generic, as well as the branded product. A patent usually lasts for 20 years in America.
Generics save insurance companies and patients a lot of money. As already mentioned, this is due to stiff competition among drug producers. Because there are fewer expenses in making the generic version, companies can pass these savings onto the consumer while still making a healthy profit.
The prices of generic medications are so low that even developing and third-world countries can afford them. For instance, Thailand imported millions of generic tablets of a blood-thinning drug to help prevent heart attacks. The cost was a mere 3 cents (USA) per tablet, which included transportation from India where the medication is manufactured.
Generic companies are allowed to enjoy the benefits of past marketing campaigns done by the company that produced the original product. This includes drug presentations, media advertising, and the handing out of free samples. Many drugs introduced by generic companies have been available for more than a decade and are well known to patients and the medical profession.
Many people are skeptical about generic medications. Some say that generics are made in sub-standard environments, and they are inferior to the original version. Both these claims are untrue. The FDA imposes the same regulations on all drug manufacturers whether they make generics or originals.
In fact, there are a lot of drug manufacturers that produce branded drugs and generics. The FDA has estimated 50% of generic drugs are produced by branded companies. Yet another myth is that generics do not work as well. This is also untrue. The FDA stipulates that generics have to work as effectively and as quickly as branded drugs.
Generic drugs have different colors, different flavors and sometimes a different mixture of the active ingredients. The reason for this is that trademark laws in America do not permit generics to have the same look as branded drugs. Nevertheless, the active ingredients must be identical in both versions to ensure the same medicinal efficacy.