- How is a generic drug different from the original drug?
- Effectiveness and safety of generic drugs
- Generic drug price
- Generic drug refund
VERIFIED CONTENTAuthor: Klaudia Kierzkowska, graduate of chemistry at the University of Warsaw
Generic drugs are substitutes for drugs that have recently been gaining popularity due to the constantly growing prices of drugs. What exactly are generics and how do they differ from the original? What should you know before buying them at a pharmacy?
Generic drugs , or generic drugs, are equivalents of original products whose patent protection has already expired or has not been applied for. Their appearance on the market is a result of the expiration of a 20-year (sometimes 25-year) patent for the original drug. They contain the same active substance as in the original products. Importantly, generic drugs meet the same standards of quality, efficacy, and safety.
How is a generic drug different from the original drug?
In terms of chemicals, a generic drug is no different from the original drug. Its composition includes the same active ingredient - both in terms of quantity and quality. It is possible that it will differ in the auxiliary substances.
Often the difference is in favor. Pharmaceutical companies, when introducing a generic drug to the market, use more modern production lines or decide on innovative solutions to, for example, reduce the size of a tablet.
In addition, a generic drug differs from the original one in terms of name, packaging, manufacturer, and perhaps most importantly - price. The replacement must be in the same pharmaceutical form as the reference medicine. It is unacceptable to replace immediate-release oral medications with modified-release medications, and vice versa.
Effectiveness and safety of generic drugs
The conducted research proves that the therapeutic effectiveness of generic drugs is comparable to that of the original drugs. It's the same drug. It is subject to the same quality control procedures as well as the same effectiveness and safety verification.
The substitutes meet the same standards as the original drugs. In order for generic drugs to obtain a marketing authorization, like any other drug, they must pass all the processes that guarantee their effectiveness and safety.
Increasingly, doctors, having adequate knowledge about the effects of specific medicinal products, decide to prescribe generic drugs. They are driven mainly by the lower cost that the patient will have to bear.
Generic drug price
A generic drug differs from the original drug mainly in terms of price. It is definitely cheaper than it. The drug that was registered first (i.e. the original drug) is the most expensive.
Interestingly, this difference may be from 20 to even 70 percent. Thus, taking generic drugs allows patients to significantly reduce their expenses. Importantly, the pharmacist - at the patient's express request or with his consent, can replace the original drug prescribed by the doctor with another equivalent.
Generic drug refund
Regardless of whether the patient chooses the original drug or the generic drug, the reimbursement of the National He alth Fund (NFZ) will be the same. Sometimes patients, fearing for safety and he alth, do not decide to buy a cheaper alternative.
Regardless of whether the drug is an original drug or a replacement drug, side effects can occur. Such information is always included in the package insert. The most important thing is to use it as prescribed by your doctor.