WHEN it comes to drug information, less can be dangerous. Generic prescription medicines often lack information on certain side-effects.

In one of the largest conducted study on 1,049 generic drugs, 68pc of drugs had differed from that of their brand name equivalents. Often when you are switched

from a branded drug to a generic drug, you think that it’s going to work the same way. But quite often you find that it does not help your cause either. This in part is attributed to the difference in bio-availability, peak plasma concentration, half life and even shelf life of both the versions of the drug.

Original drugs go through a rigorous regulatory process before entering the market and can never be matched by generic drugs.

There is a long time and effort required to bring a research molecule (branded drug) to the market. Pharmaceutical giants spend billions of dollars in research and development of a drug. Once the drug hits the market, the companies again spend a huge amount in advertising and marketing campaigns so that they can establish the drug’s concept with all the stakeholders concerned.

These two processes ultimately push prices on the higher side as pharmaceutical companies try to make up for the spent amount.

Conversely, for a generic version of a drug, also known as a me-too drug, there is no research process required and also the advertising cost is negligible, thanks to all the work done by innovative drug manufacturers who have already established the concept behind the drug. This ultimately allows generic companies to keep prices on the lower side.

Most importantly, in any drug there are two types of ingredients: first is the active ingredient, which is responsible for the function of the drug, and the second is the inactive ingredient, also known as excipients.

The FDA has made it compulsory that the active ingredient of a brand and its generic name must be the same. It is fairly common to have a slightly different reaction to a generic and a branded drug. That’s because beyond five per cent of a pill that is the active ingredient and required to be identical across versions, pills are packed with starch or other fillers that differ from product to product.

Normally, doctor’s in established countries opt for branded version of drugs and they don’t even want to take a chance with generics as you never know how they will react.

If you have been switched from a branded drug to a generic one and you feel that the response is different, consult your doctor as generic drugs are not always comparable to the original drugs where efficacy and safety are concerned.

Kaleem Ahmed

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2015

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