Is there a difference between generic and branded drugs for Acid Reflux?
Generic drugs do not differ greatly from their branded equivalents. All drugs are carefully regulated in exactly the same way to ensure they contain the correct amount of active ingredient as well as suitable inactive ingredients and are produced and manufactured in a similar way.
The generic drug must be shown to be bioequivalent to the branded alternative i.e. releases exactly the same amount of active ingredient over the same time scale.
The differences often lie mostly in the presentation of the drug for example a branded drug may produce pills which have a nice colouring and flavour, whereas the generic version will generally contain little more than the active ingredient. There should therefore be very little difference to the patient between branded and generic drugs and both have to go through the same regulators. Generics have a few advantages however over the branded alternatives.
The branded drug is often the first of it’s type to be developed and so the company spends a lot of money on developing, testing and patenting it’s new drug and consequently they are more expensive.
Generic Drugs appear once a patent has expired or in rare cases are different enough from the original to get around the patent whilst still doing the same job.
Generic drug with just smaller development and manufacture costs are often a lot cheaper and so are far more likely to be prescribed. This affordability also means increased availability especially to those in poorer countries.
Generic drugs do not differ greatly from their branded equivalents. All drugs are carefully regulated in exactly the same way to ensure they contain the correct amount of active ingredient as well as suitable inactive ingredients and are produced and manufactured in a similar way.
The generic drug must be shown to be bioequivalent to the branded alternative i.e. releases exactly the same amount of active ingredient over the same time scale.
The differences often lie mostly in the presentation of the drug for example a branded drug may produce pills which have a nice colouring and flavour, whereas the generic version will generally contain little more than the active ingredient. There should therefore be very little difference to the patient between branded and generic drugs and both have to go through the same regulators. Generics have a few advantages however over the branded alternatives.
The branded drug is often the first of it’s type to be developed and so the company spends a lot of money on developing, testing and patenting it’s new drug and consequently they are more expensive.
Generic Drugs appear once a patent has expired or in rare cases are different enough from the original to get around the patent whilst still doing the same job.
Generic drug with just smaller development and manufacture costs are often a lot cheaper and so are far more likely to be prescribed. This affordability also means increased availability especially to those in poorer countries.
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