Primer on Branded and Generic Medicines
How to read medicine packaging.
Many patients do not understand the difference between branded medications and their generic counterparts. As a result, patients are unable to make informed decisions when buying medication to treat their illness.
To help patients make an educated decision when buying their meds, we have compiled the following two-part tutorial. Ultimately, our goal is to help patients lower the cost of treating their illness and by doing so, help them avoid skipping doses so they can afford their treatment.
FORMULATION
The one thing that makes branded and generic drugs comparable is the active ingredient. Since branded and generic drugs are bioequivalent … ie. have the same active ingredient in the same dose and form … they are expected to produce the same therapeutic outcome.
Where the two differ is the variation of inactive components, like fillers and colourants. However, these differences only affect the taste (eg. if sugar-coated) and look, but not the medicine’s efficacy.
COST
Although branded and generic medications are similar in health outcomes, they are rarely similar in price. Understanding why there is a, often big, price difference is critical to making an informed purchasing decision at the pharmacy.
Significant monies and resources are used to research, develop and promote branded medications. For this reason, branded medications are awarded patents, with exclusive marketing rights, of 17 to 20 years so the manufacturer can recover investment costs as well as invest in developing new therapies.
In contrast, generic medications do not incur the same research and advertising expenses. So, they price their medications lower. However, generics are not, normally, available on the market until after the branded drug’s patent expires.
After patent expiration, both the branded drug and its generic equivalent incur similar costs. So, in theory, they could be sold for the same price. Yet, as many of us have experienced, this is not the case.
SAFETY
Both original and generic medications undergo rigorous evaluation by regulatory agencies to ensure safety, efficacy, and quality. In addition, a generic medicine must be proven to be bioequivalent to its branded counterpart.
Indeed, many patients believe that branded medications are safer, more trustworthy. Quite often, though, this trust has been built over nearly two decades of marketing exclusivity.
So, as generic medications become more prevalent, they gain public trust. In fact, around the world, more patients are exploring generic alternatives given the potential cost savings and equivalent therapy outcomes.
ACCESSIBILITY
One of the main benefits of generic medicines is increased accessibility which makes treatment costs more affordable and more widely available.
As previously highlighted, branded medications tend to be priced higher. Thus, many patients cannot afford to buy the branded medications needed to treat their illness. In addition, many branded medications are selectively distributed within a healthcare system.
Allowing several generic brands to enter a market introduces competition, which, in turn, results in lower medication prices. At the same time, competition increases availability as generic brands explore new geographies to win business.
CONCLUSION
The innovation which produces branded medications is critical to improving our health. Equally, the competition resulting from generic medications is important to ensuring more of us can access health innovations.
With a better understanding of the important roles played by branded and generic medicines, more patients throughout East Africa will appreciate why some medications are so expensive as well as endeavour to explore the benefits of generic medicines … as is happening throughout the rest of the world.