Branded Drugs and Generic Drugs

Branded drugs and generic drugs

In India, for many people (including doctors, scientists and pharmacy professionals) there is confusion between generics and branded drugs. Actually almost all the medicines produced in India are generics. As per the strict definition, a branded medicine is the one which is produced by the innovator; and a generic medicine is the one which is an equivalent and which is produced by companies other than the innovator company. When seen from this angle, all medicines produced here are generic equivalents.

But many people in India claim they only prefer branded medicines and many doctors use brand names only in prescribing.
The companies in India give their own names to their generic products; these become the “brand names”. At one time the Govt. of India toyed with the idea of disallowing the placement of brand names but it faced stiff opposition from the drug manufacturers and doctors. All sorts of arguments including the most critical one that generics coming from established companies are more bioavailable than the generics coming from ‘small’ or “new’ companies were given and the Govt. refrained from that move. They passed the order only with respect to a few drugs. The Govt. also said that the brand name and the generic name should have equal size on the pack of the drug product.

So the situation in India today is this; the Govt. encourages the use of generics and most Govt. doctors prescribe whatever medicines are available in their drug store. The Govt. purchases in terms of generics only. The doctors, in their prescriptions write the brand name of the generic equivalent that is available in their hospital.
Private doctors mostly, write their prescriptions, in terms of brand names only. There is a strong belief among many intellectuals also that drugs coming from established companies are more effective clinically.
But when there is a strong Drug control Department ensuring that all pharmaceutical companies are following Quality Assurance procedures, how can we say that one company’s product is superior to another company’s product? The difference in price is only because of the promotional strategies and other establishment issues which have nothing to do with the quality of the medicine.

This is a big issue which demands the attention of pharmacists associations and consumer forums’ attention. We need to focus our attention and the public’s attention on to this issue which affects the economy of the society.