Testimonials

Is generic medicine as safe as branded drugs? Yes,they are safe. Since you have raised the question on behalf of the price difference between branded drugs and generics. Let me elucidate in a nut-shell as to why the price difference occurs in the first place. Innovative drug companies spend around $1 Billion for bringing new innovative drugs to the market. To develop these block buster drugs they take a minimum of 10 years. Hence given the high cost of clinical trials and R&D these branded drugs tend to be priced heavily for the firms to recover the money spent and also to earn windfall profits ( Patent life is only for 20 years for these drugs ). Generic Manufacturers wait for the patents to end and capitalize on the markets by producing bio-equivalent versions of the brand name drugs. Since the only cost that is incurred by them is the cost of manufacturing and supplying , generic drugs tend to be priced 80% lower than the latter. All generic drugs get approved only when their bio-equivalence is proved and not prior to that. So they function in a similar way as brand name drugs and are safe. Hope this clarifies some of your doubts. Cheers

Do Indian generic drugs work the same way as branded ones? At first generic medicines have the same amount of dosage as compared to branded medicines and the amount of content is also the same, the difference is only in size shape and taste. Generic medicines are same as branded medicines, even the company that makes branded medicines manufacturers generic version but with a lower price. Lots of people don’t know the difference between generic and branded medicines and that’s where doctor’s and pharmacies take the advantage and prescribe only branded medicines to earn more commission. The most important part is that India is the manufacturing hub of generic medicines and India alone accounts for 90% of the total exports all over the world. And this generic medicines are all WHO certified so there’s no chance of low quality generic medicines.  

How do I distinguish between a brand name drug and a generic drug by looking at its cover? When a company develops a new drug — often after years of research — it applies for a patent, which prohibits anyone else from making the drug for a fixed period. To recover the cost of research and development, companies usually price their brand- name drugs on the higher side. Once the patent expires, other manufacturers duplicate and market their own versions of the drug. Since the manufacture of these generic drugs do not involve a repeat of the extensive clinical trials to prove their safety and efficacy, it costs less to develop them. Generic drugs are, therefore, cheaper. However, because the compounds in the generic versions have the same molecular structure as the brand-name version, their quality is essentially the same. The generic drug has the same “active ingredient” as the brand-name drug. This ingredient is the one that cures the patient; and other, “inert ingredients”, which give the drug its colour, shape or taste, vary from the brand-name drug to the generics. The reason so explaining above its not possible due to following explanation as said above The main difference by which you can distinguish is the price for eg, the difference between the brand-name drug and the generic could be Rs 10 (Rs 35 and Rs 25 respectively), depending on what the retailer keeps in each case, the actual difference in the price paid by a customer of a brand-name drug and that of a generic could be, perhaps, only Rs 4 (Rs 27 and Rs 23).