Making Medicine Affordable With Generic Drugs

America's FDA (Food and Drug Administration) governs medications such as these and consider generic drugs as identical to brand name on a legal basis. The same laws apply to cheap prescription drugs as their brand named formula in terms of dose, strength, safety and administration. Generics have to be within an acceptable bioequivalent range and must contain the same active ingredients.

Once the patent of the original developer expires, generic medications become available. When this happens, competition in the market lends itself to lower costs for both the generics and the brand name products.

American drug patents generally last 20 years, but manufacturers have to apply for the patent before starting with clinical trials. Hence, the active period of the patent is usually only about seven to twelve years.

Once a patent no longer protects a drug, generic drug companies can develop a similar product for a lot cheaper. This saves a lot of money for the generic company and enables them to market the product for a lot cheaper, hence the savings are passed onto health insurers and patients. Generic meds can be distributed within developing countries for a lot cheaper than the named brands.

Many countries are importing generic medicine from India, the world's leader in generic drug manufacturing. Reverse engineering is applied to known drug compositions to create bioequivalent counterparts thereof. Since drug testing has taken place by means of clinical trials performed by the brand name, generic manufacturers don't have to prove the efficacy and safety of the generic drug.

Since the branded product is already well known via the branded company's marketing campaigns and the fact that it might have been on the trial for a decade already, health care professionals can easily switch their patients to the generic brand.

During the patent protection period, the brand name company monopolizes the market and therefore they can price the product in order to maximize profitability. Usually, during this time the drug is highly over-priced. This gives them the funds to research and develop new drugs. Most generic medication manufacturers cannot afford this.

Generic meds can be developed legally when the patent of the name brand has expired, when it can be certified that the original patent is invalid or in the case where the company does not have a patent in a specific country. Note that a patent does not automatically apply worldwide.

When a patent expires, the monopoly is removed. Generally patents are not renewable. If the composition of a drug changes significantly in a new formulation, it will have to be patented again and new clinical trials will have to take place. If the original compound changes, the generic version with the original composition may still be sold unless it is taken off the market by regulators.

Developing countries import cheap generic drugs to distribute in their countries at low cost; hence cheap generic drugs are welcomed by healthcare professionals and patients alike.