Generic is a drug created in the same way as a branded drug already marketed, in the form of dosage, safety, potency, route of administration, quality, characteristics and intended use. These similarities help demonstrate bioequivalence, which means that the generic drug works the same and provides the same clinical benefits as the branded version. In other words, you can use a generic as an equivalent substitute for its branded counterpart.

Generic is a drug that has exactly the same active ingredient as the brand name drug and provides the same therapeutic effect. It is the same in dosage, safety, strength, quality, mode of action, route of administration and route of use. Generic products must not contain the same inactive ingredients as the branded product.

However, a generic can only be marketed after the brand-name drug’s patent expires, which can take up to 20 years after the patent owner is first filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Generic drugs are usually much cheaper than brand name drugs when they hit the market.

Medicines and generics are only made available after rigorous FDA screening and after a certain period of time during which the branded version is exclusively on the market. This is because new drugs, like other new products, are generally protected by patents that prohibit others from making and selling copies of the same drug.

The patent protects a company’s investments in the development of a drug by giving it the exclusive right to sell the drug as long as the patent remains in effect. As it takes a long time to bring a new drug to market, this period of exclusivity allows pharmaceutical companies to recoup the cost of bringing a new drug to market.

The FDA also grants certain marketing exclusivity periods for branded drugs that may prohibit the approval of generic drugs. Upon expiry of these patents and marketing exemptions (or if the patents are successfully contested by the generic company), the generic can be approved.

In fact, many general-purpose companies are usually allowed to sell a single product. This creates market competition and usually leads to lower prices.

The lower initial research costs mean that although generics have the same therapeutic benefits as their branded counterparts, they usually sell at significant discounts, around 80-85% less than the price of brand-name drugs. Generics saved $ 1.67 trillion in the U.S. health system between 2007 and 2016, according to the IMS Institute of Health.

It works in a similar way just like brand-name drugs

Generic drugs can be as effective as their brand-name alternatives

Patients can save a lot of money with Generic

Generic drug users are in good company, as generics make up 90 percent of filled prescriptions in the United States.

Patients can easily find a generic equivalent

Patients don’t need to research long to find alternatives to many popular brand name drugs. There are a surprisingly large number of popular drugs with high-quality generic equivalents.