What Are Generic Drugs?

When a new drug is developed, it is given a name that indicates the chemical make-up of that drug. This is called its generic or chemical name. The new drug is also given a brand name for marketing purposes. The brand name is usually easier to say and remember than the chemical name.

Patients and Doctors become familiar with the new drug by this brand name. (A well-known example of a brand name drug is Lipitor - its chemical name is atorvastatin calcium).

Generic drugs are copies of brand name drugs with the same active ingredients. Therefore, equivalent brand name and generic drugs have the same chemical name and the same therapeutic effect.

Why Are Generic Drugs Low Cost Drugs?

Generic drugs are usually less expensive than their brand name equivalents. This is because the investment in discovering them is not required, and because they are essentially copy products, the investment in developing them is less intensive.

Generic drugs have been reported to save US consumers an estimated $80 to $140 billion a year . An IMS Health study released in July 2010 found that use of generic versions of brand named drugs saved the American health care system more than $824 billion over the past decade, and $139 billion in 2009 alone. These savings are a reflection of the huge savings consumers make when they order generic products online and this level of use demonstrates the widespread acceptance of generic drugs as discount prescription drug alternatives, so long as the quality is assured.

Switching to Generics

Many brand name drugs have generic equivalents available. In the US, IMS reported that use of generic products, including branded generics, continued to rise in 2009 and now represent 75 percent of all dispensed prescriptions in the U.S., up from 57 percent in 2004. The total number of generic prescriptions dispensed increased 5.9 percent in 2009, while the number of branded prescriptions dispensed declined 7.6 percent. This does not mean that all of these generic drugs will be supplied on generic prescriptions because in the U.S., most states allow pharmacists to substitute a generic drug on prescriptions even though a brand name product may have initially been prescribed. However usually this is only done when the Doctor approves it.

The figures do indicate however that generic drugs are widely accepted by medical professionals and patients. Many insurance plans also encourage patients to accept generic drugs over their brand name counterparts whenever it's medically safe.

In the countries our discount pharmacies source their products from generic pharmaceuticals are only allowed to enter the market after they have been proven to be the same as their brand name counterparts in terms of dosage, safety, strength, how they are taken, quality, performance and intended use. These are the same requirements that exist in the U.S. and most other developed nations.

While the active ingredients in generic pharmaceuticals are the same as the active ingredients in their brand name counterparts, there may be differences in their appearance (For example, the shape or the colour of a tablet). Sometimes different non-active ingredients may used to produce the final product (For example, the non-active base in creams or diluents in nasal sprays). However, the active ingredients, which give a drug its intended effect, are the same in generic pharmaceuticals and their brand name counterparts. None of these differences should alter the clinical effect of any approved generic drug.

Safety & Quality of Generic Drugs

The approval process for generic drugs is rigorous in all countries. A company that manufactures a generic drug needs to prove that it is as effective and safe as its brand name counterpart. The company must show that their generic drug has the same effect in the body and is manufactured to the same high standards before it can be registered and therefore sold to patients.

All generic medicines available through Discount Prescription Drugs Online are of the highest quality. These products are either sourced from manufacturing facilities that have been approved by one or more of the following respected international regulatory bodies; Food and Drug Administration (FDA), USA; Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), UK; Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australia; Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention (PIC), Germany; World Health Organisation (WHO) or are sourced from developed western countries (Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand) where they have complied with strict international regulatory approval process.

International Nonproprietary Names

An 'International Nonproprietary Name' (INN) is the official chemical name (nonproprietary name) given to a pharmaceutical substance as designated by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The proprietary name is the brand name.
i.e; Lipitor = proprietary name,
atorvastatin calcium = nonproprietary name.

Click here to read about International Nonproprietary Names

The intention of an INN is to ensure there is a standard name for each chemical substance across the world. Occasionally, the United States and/or Britain may designate their own nonproprietary name for a particular substance, rather than adhering to the INN. In such instances, the nonproprietary name may be referred to as a 'United States Adopted Name' (USAN) or as a 'British Approved Name' (BAN). Sometimes the USAN or the BAN can differ from the INN.

This is the case with the nonproprietary name for the common asthma product; Ventolin. The INN and the BAN for Ventolin is salbutamol, while the USAN is albuterol.

Click here to read about salbutamol and albuterol

Another example is the commonly used diuretic Lasix. The INN and the USAN is furosemide, while frusemide is the nonproprietary name that the British approved.

Click here to read about furosemide and frusemide.