GUiDE

Brand Name Drugs Also called “innovator drugs” Initially marketed as new chemical entities First version sold by the innovator manufacturer Generic Drugs Copies of brand name drugs Produced after the original patent expires   Companies wishing to sell the generic drug have much lower development costs (they do not have the high costs of marketing that brand names spent on advertising... the drug is already known), they can produce it at a lower unit cost, sell it for less and still make a profit on the sale. The FDA regulates manufacture of both brand-name and generic drugs and the overall quality should be comparable. The difference between a brand-name product and a generic one is designed to be transparent. Once the patent life expires on a brand-name drug product, it is eligible to be made into a "generic drug." To do this, the generic drug manufacturer must ensure that the drug they are producing contains the same active ingredient(s) as th...