Generic Drugs Can Help Save the Lives of the Poor People around the World

Generic Drugs Can Help Save the Lives of the Poor People around the World

Generic Drugs Can Help Save the Lives of the Poor People around the World

Vast sums of money are being invested in to research and development (R&D) within the pharmaceutical industry to discover new drugs. The time frame involved in developing a drug and gaining approval with the FDA or other authoritative bodies is very significant. This is why innovative drugs are patented to reap the commercial benefits of the R&D investments made by a particular company to develop and bring a drug to the market. But once the patent period is over, other manufacturers receive the opportunity to duplicate the active ingredients in the innovation drug and make it available for very competitive prices. These firms have to merely reverse-engineer the innovation drug to identify the active ingredients Such drugs which are produced without being restricted by patents are called generic drugs. Without having to recover the initial R&D costs the generic drug manufactures are able to offer the drug at a faction of the price of original company that developed the drug.

Differences between a Generics and Branded Drugs

The standards specify that the generic drug should able to be interchanged with an innovator brand and will contain the same active ingredients. The name of the generic vs. the branded product will differ. Having invested in the R&D, approvals and marketing of the product, the innovator companies will retain the right for their brand names with the other competitors. Therefore, there will be a generic name for these drugs which differs from the original brand. The formulation process and the passive ingredients may differ although the generics are expected to have same or very close bioequivalent range to the branded drug. The shape and color of the generics will also differ from the branded product.

Benefits of Generic Drugs

The biggest and most obvious benefit of generics lies in the low cost of production which translates in to low prices. In fact, generics are a life saver for the poor people in developing countries around the world. For these people, the price of branded products is prohibitive. From antibiotics to blood thinning drugs or life time need of immune suppressants for organ transplant patients, the generics offer an affordable option. They also save insurance companies a lot of money, allowing to keep overall insurance premiums low, allowing health insurance to be an affordability to many than an exclusive few. A good example is the branded drug Lipitor which is a lipid lowering drug that is now facing generic drugs in the market in Canada in the form of apo-atorvastatin. In other markets too, the generic atorvastatin is helping thousands of patients suffering from high cholesterol.

The Importance of Branded Drugs

While generic drugs have their own benefits, it is important to recognize the role of branded drugs in the market. The R&D costs of discovering a drug for a particular illness is staggering and only a few well established pharmaceutical firms in the world are capable of incurring such sums of money for this process which has no guaranteed results or time frames for discovery. The clinical tests to establish safety of the drug and the tedious nature of the approval process costs time, money and effort. If there were no patent systems to grant exclusive rights to branded drugs that allow these firms to recover their investments over 12-20 years, the commercial consideration and profit viability will seriously deter the new drug discoveries. This can be detrimental to the entire human kind.

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