An observational comparative study of cost between branded medicines and generic medicines

Authors

  • Meenu Pichholiya Department of Pharmacology, Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
  • Abhijit Basu Department of Medicine, Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
  • Arvind Kumar Yadav Department of Pharmacology, Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
  • Nitin Kothari Department of Pharmacology, Pacific Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
  • Jameela Tahashildar Department of Pharmacology, Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Keywords:

Generic medicine, Branded medicine, Healthcare professionals, Pharmaceuticals and pharmacies

Abstract

Background: Same drug can be sold for different prices under different brand names due to various reasons. Branded medicine is the original product that has been developed by a pharmaceutical company and generic medicine is a copy of the original branded product, marketed after the expiry date of the patent and hence supposed to be of low cost as compared to their branded versions. The objective was to compare the costs of various branded and generic medicine and to ascertain the rationality of emphasizing generic versus branded prescription.

Methods: Prices of 50 commonly used branded and generic medicines available as both branded and generic forms and in same concentration, dosage form and combination were selected and the percentage difference in the mean cost of generic and branded medicines was calculated.

Results: The mean cost of 26 generic medicines out of the selected 50 medicines was higher than their branded versions. Mean cost of 20 branded medicines was higher than generic ones, and cost of 4 medicines was approximately same. Percentage difference in the mean costs of branded and generic medicines varied from <10% to >70%.

Conclusions: Most of the drugs available in the market have brand names whether they are branded or generic medicines. Hence, doctor should write a cheapest known brand with the name of the generic salt in bracket so that the patient can buy another if that brand is not available. Furthermore, the Drug Controller of India should release a website where every doctor should be able to find the cheapest and approved drugs in the market.

References

Jana S, Mondal P. Pharmacoeconomics: the need to sensitize undergraduate medical students. Indian J Pharmacol. 2005;37(5):277-9.

Lothium PW, Katzung BG. Basic and Clinical Pharmacology. 12th Edition. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill; 2012: 1142.

Thakkar KB, Billa G. The concept of: generic drugs and patented drugs vs. Brand name drugs and non-proprietary generic name drugs. Front Pharmacol. 2013;4:113.

Generic medicines and Branded medicines. Available at http://www.myvmc.com/treatments/generic medicines and branded medicines. Accessed 15 October 2014.

Generic Drugs, Available at http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story034/en/WHO. Accessed 15 October 2014.

King DR, Kanavos P. Encouraging the use of generic medicines: implications for transition economies. Croat Med J. 2002;43(4):462-9.

Guidance on INN, WHO Available at http://www.who.int/medicines/services/inn/innguidance/en/index.html. Accessed 15 October 2014.

Singhal GL, Kotwani A, Nanda A. Jan Aushadhi stores in India and quality of medicines therein. Int J Pharmacy Pharm Sci. 2011;3(1):204-7.

Mukherjee R. Prescribe generic drugs: MCI to doctors 2013. Available at articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-27/india/36576717_1_generic-drugs-generic-medicines-generic-versions. Accessed 15 October 2014.

Gautam CS, Bhanwra S. Pharmacoeconomics: sensitization of undergraduate medical students. Correspondence. Indian J Pharmacol. 2005;37(5):336.

Poduct v. Process Patent under Indian Patent Law. Available at http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=1758064 poduct v. Process Patent under Indian Patent Law. Accessed 15 October 2014.

Dadhich A, Upadhyaya M. A review: exploring branded generic drugs by Indian pharmaceutical multinational companies as a new prospect. Pharmacophore 2011;2(6):271 5.

Ahire K, Shukla M, Gattani M, Singh V, Singh M. A survey based study in current scenario of generic and branded medicines. Int J Pharm Pharm Sci 2013;5(3):705-11.

Dwivedi RK. Patent and Medicine: a Comparative Study. Available at http//ispub.com/ijtwm/7/1/10192. Accessed 15 October 2014.

Nath K. Pharma and IT to Benefit, Yojana. March, 2005: 49 51.

Rohit SR, Nilesh LB, Ravikiran KB, Pallavi MC, Pramod VK. The Indian pharmaceutical industry: evolution of regulatory system and present scenario. Int Res J Pharm. 2012;3(6):49-54.

Janodia M, Pandey S, Venkara RJ, Sreedhar D, Ligade V, Udupa N. Patents regime in India: issues, challenges and opportunities in pharmaceutical sector. Internet J Third World Med. 2007;7(1).

Aggarwal KK. Generic drugs vs patented drugs vs branded drugs vs generic names of the drugs. Available at http://www.blog.kkaggarwal.com/2013/02/generic-drugs-vs-patented-drugs-vs-branded-drugs-vs-generic-names-of-the-drugs. Accessed 15 October 2014.

Downloads

Published

2017-01-21

How to Cite

Pichholiya, M., Basu, A., Yadav, A. K., Kothari, N., & Tahashildar, J. (2017). An observational comparative study of cost between branded medicines and generic medicines. International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology, 4(2), 269–272. Retrieved from https://www.ijbcp.com/index.php/ijbcp/article/view/910

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles