Over the past decades discussion over generic drugs has increased. With the introduction of online pharmacies and ever rising prices of health insurance and prescription drugs cost, use of generic drugs in word has increased. It has reached a point that over half of all prescription drugs in U.S. filled today is generic. Even with that in mind patients are still wondering about safety and effectiveness of generic drugs in comparison to their brand name counterparts.
Generic drugs are nothing more than copies of brand name drugs prescribed in the same dosage, intended use, effects, side effects, route of administration, risks, safety, and strength as the original drug. In other words generic drugs have the same pharmacological effects of their brand name counterparts, but are in most cases produced by different pharmaceutical company then brand name counterparts.
For example let’s take examine a drug called Cialis. Cialis is drug used to treat erectile dysfunction. Cialis was developed by biotech company ICOS and distributed by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Cialis can be acquired on the market as a generic drug under its compound name Tadalafil.
Patients became concerned over the years because generic drugs are often couple times cheaper than their brand name counterparts. This difference in price was the cause for doubt in drug’s effectiveness. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. regulatory commission in charge of making all drugs safe for the patients, requires the same safety and effectiveness from generic drugs as it does from brand name medication.
Lower price is possible because generic drug manufacturers do not have expenses like R&D (research and development) and marketing. When a pharmaceutical company develops a new drug it has high cost of development. Before the drug is marketed expenses are so high that the only way to cover these costs is to make the initial price higher than usual. Also for drug to sell they have to invest considerable amount on marketing and promotion. All these investments raise the price of brand name drugs. Since all these costs are considerable pharmaceutical companies apply for patens on the drug. This patent guaranties them an exclusive right to manufacture this drug.
As the patent nears its end, other manufacturers have a right to apply to the FDA for permission to manufacture and sell the generic version of these drugs. Since they didn’t have the initial expenses, they are able to offer the generic drug at a reduced price. Additional price cuts happen when more pharmaceutical companies start to produce the same drug. In essence law of supply and demand comes into effect.
Another common misconception is that generic drugs take longer to work. Since FDA requires from generic drugs to be identical in effectiveness and safety it is impossible for them to take longer to work. Generic drugs are only able to change colors, flavors, or combinations of inactive ingredients.
To get back to our example Tadalafil like its brand name counterpart Cialis is erectile dysfunction treatment. It has the same 36 hours effectiveness and exceptional absorption qualities. Although Tadalafil may look different then Cialis it is produced to be administered in the same dosage and the dosage should not be changed without consulting your physician. In that sense Tadalafil is a reversible phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitor approved for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED), just like Cialis itself.