Five Questions About Generic Drugs

Is it true that generic drugs are less effective than brand-name drugs? Do they really work? In this article, we’ll answer these common questions and more about generics. First, however, we must start by explaining what it exactly means.

The background of generic drugs

A generic drug is a drug that is made to do the same thing as an existing, approved brand-name drug when it comes to:

• dosage
• safety
• get well soon
• administration
• quality
• performance

If something is generic, it will often be labeled as a pharmaceutical equivalent. That’s how you know it’s a generic drug. However, despite their popularity, there is still a lot of controversy about generic drugs. In addition, there are many myths about it, which we will explain later.

In this article, we’ll also answer five common questions about generic drugs :

• What is the difference between a generic drug and a brand name drug?
• Are generic medicines of the same quality as branded medicines?
• Are they really cheaper?
• What are the advantages?
• Is it true that generic drugs contain up to 20% less active ingredients?

1. What is the difference between a generic and branded drug?

The main difference between generic drugs and the brand name drugs is how they look. However, this does not mean that they are much less good, as many people may think.

Another difference is the name of the drug. A generic drug will be named based on the active ingredient. An example of this is paracetamol.

You can find paracetamol, the generic version, at the pharmacy and drugstore. However, you can also find other brands that contain paracetamol as the active ingredient, but have a different name.

However, generic drugs cannot enter the market until the patent on the original drug has expired. In addition, they must be approved by the Medicines Evaluation Board (MEB).

2. Are generic medicines of the same quality as branded medicines?

Yes, the quality is the same. We have already mentioned the main differences and they have nothing to do with the effectiveness of the drugs.

Generic drugs are guaranteed to have the same quality, because both generic and branded drugs have to go through the same processes. In addition, they both have to be approved by the MEB (Medicine Evaluation Board).

3. Are they really cheaper?

While no single company or group sets the prices for generic drugs, the prices are typically significantly lower than the branded alternative.

That’s because the manufacturer doesn’t have to pay a large amount for research costs. As you already know, the fact that they are cheaper does not mean that they are of lower quality.

4. What are the benefits?

Based on the previous question, the main advantage is that they are much cheaper than branded drugs. In fact, you can even save up to 60% over the price of the original.

The price difference is due to the fact that generic drugs do not affect the investment that each pharmaceutical company makes to discover a new drug.

5. Is it true that generics contain up to 20% less active ingredients?

No, that’s definitely not true. There is some variability in the efficacy of the medication, or in the actual amount of the active ingredient.

However, there can be 20% variation in the way your body absorbs it. This variation is common to all medications, whether they are generic or not. This is because when researchers research bioavailability, they always have to admit that they vary by 20%. Therefore, this variability can arise with all drugs.

This means that the absorption may vary, even if the total amount of active substances is exactly the same. Moreover, all studies take this into account before generic drugs are allowed on the market.