MEDICINES - Brand leaders and Generics, what is the difference?

Originator, Generics and brand names:



Quite often we come across so many different brands of medicine, some we call 'Original brand' which is actually the Originator brand or the brand leader, and the generic, which people often confuse for counterfeit/fake brands (often because they are much cheaper).

These drugs usually differ in so many ways, including shape, colour, fillers (and taste components) as well as branding and packaging.

So what is the 'Originator brand' or a 'Brand Leader' in the pharmaceutical sense? When a pharmaceutical company discovers a certain chemical, it will seek to protect it as intellectual property through patenting. The patent usually lasts an average of 20 years, the 20 years inclusive of when the chemical was discovered all through its launch as medication for human use. Roughly, 15 out of the 20 years will be used for development and research, while the remainder of the time will be used to launch and push the drug in the market where it dominates until the patent expires. this is where the "Original" concept comes from. Thus, it is recognized as a 'Brand leader '.

Generics are therefore the chemically identical copies of the brand leader. They are NOT fake medicine. They are cheaper though, since the manufacturing company did not have to incur the development and research costs as well as marketing costs when introducing the drug to the market.

There are 3 general types of generic medicine:

Pseudo-generics (a.k.a clone medication): These are identical to the originator brand leader in all aspects, except branding and identifying components e.g colour of tablets, taste etc. Most often, they are manufactured in the same factory
as the brand leader.

Licensed generic: These share the same formula as the originator brand leader, but are manufactured by another manufacturer who has bought the formula from the brand leader, and are licensed to manufacture the drug.

True Generic: This type is manufactured by a company that has formulated its own recipe, but contains the same active ingredient as the brand leader. To qualify for government subsidy, the generic must show that it is therapeutically equivalent to the brand leader (i.e do what the originator brand leader
does to bring about relief). This means that the drug must contain between 80% to 120% of the active ingredient as contained in the brand leader, so as to provide assurance of effectiveness of the generic drug.

There are cases where a small change in the composition of the active ingredient may be harmful to the user, especially when the active ingredient is a strong/potent chemical. This is defined as ' Medically narrow therapeutic window'. It is in such a case where you find that a patient is advised not to
substitute the originator brand leader with a generic drug.

Therefore, don't be afraid of generic medicine, as long as they are licensed and approved, as your pharmacist will assure you.

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