A generic drug (generic drugs, short: generics) is a drug that is produced and distributed without certain patent protection. Usually generic drugs are produced with the same technology, than brand ones. And the generic drug may still have a patent on the formulation but not on the active ingredient though this is the same ingredient.

A generic definitly must contain the same active ingredients as the original formulation. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), generic drugs are absolutely identical or within an acceptable bioequivalent range to the brand name counterpart with respect to its properties. So by extension, therefore, generics are considered  identical in dose,  route of administration, strength,safety, and intended use. The FDA’s usage of the word identical is  a legal interpretation, and is not literal.

The generic nproduct usually intends to be interchangeable with an innovator product, it is manufactured without a patent from the innovator company and marketed after the expiry date of the license or any other exclusive rights.

In most cases, generic drugs are available once the patent protections afforded to the original developer have expired. After generic products become available, the market competition usually leads to substantially lower prices for both the generic forms and the original brand name product. The time for a generic drug to appear on the market sometimes varies. In the US, patents for drugs give more than twenty years of protection, but they are applied only for before clinical trials begin, so the effective life for a drug patent tends to be between six and thirteen  years.

The main difference between brand drugs and generic ones is the pricing. But there are at least two other differences.

First, not all brand drugs have their generic version. Recently developed drugs are probably still patented; tso a generic just does not exist. To get the benefits of that kind of drugs, you’ll need to use the branded versions.

Second, “generic” means only that the active ingredients must be the same. U.S. Trademark restrictions require the drugs to look different, so the generic version may have a different shape or a different color,even  have a different taste, or contain some inactive ingredients that may differ.

When you buy generic drugs you don’t give extra profit to the pharmacy corporations, but you get some certain risk…