WHAT IS A “GENERIC” MEDICINE?
In an international context a Generic Medicine is a medicine which has been around a long time and whose patent has expired. At this point anyone with sufficient knowledge is free to make that medicine. However any medicine has to be approved by a local regulator before it can be sold to the public. In India even copies of recent medicines are available as “Generic” – a well-known example is that of Viagra, Manufactured by Pfizer containing Sildenafil Nitrate. A single 100mg Viagra tablet even now costs Rs 594 in India – it costs much more outside India. Numerous “Generic” alternatives containing the exact same active ingredient are available in every medicine shop, starting from just a few Rupees. However no one else but Pfizer can CALL their Sildenfil “Viagra”- they have to give it another name. It is exactly the same as buying a bottle of “Mineral Water” – you can buy Bisleri or you can buy Kinley made by Coca Cola. Most of us wouldn’t care which brand of these two Brands we buy as long as it was from a “reliable” company – particularly, if one costs Rs100 and the other only Rs10. If your asked for a bottle of Bisleri and the shop keeper offered you Kinley chances are you would take it – especialy if Kinley was half the price. But with Medicines, we leave our brains at home and insist on buying “Bisleri” even though it costs us 10 times as much!
The above picture illustrates the point well. Three Brand names of
exactly the same medicine [Cetirizine] made by the
same company [CIPLA] at wildly different prices!
SO, YOU ARE SAYING THAT NEARLY ALL MEDICINES SOLD IN INDIA ARE GENERIC? IF SO WHAT IS BRANDED?
Yes absolutely. But there are TWO types of Generics. “Branded Generics” and “Generics”. Shortened to “Branded” and “Generics” respectively. Better terms would be “Promoted Generic” for “Branded” and “Unpromoted Generic” for what’s called “Generic”.