Switching to generic drugs over high-priced brand-name drugs can save you money, as they are 80 to 85% cheaper than their brand-name counterparts are. So, what about generic drugs efficacy? Are they as effective as their brand-name versions?
Well, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), generic drugs are as safe and effective as the brand-name equivalent.
When a brand-name drug’s patent expires, drug manufacturers come up with a generic version of the drug, which can be developed and marketed only after the FDA approves it.
The FDA requires a generic drug to contain the same active ingredient(s) as the brand name drug. More importantly, it should meet the same quality and safety standards. In addition, the agency requires a generic drug to be bioequivalent to its brand-name counterpart in terms of dosage, strength, route of administration, and indications.
Every generic drug is reviewed and approved by the FDA before it can be prescribed or sold.
Most people express concerns over the quality and efficacy of generic drugs. The FDA ensures all generic drugs undergo its review process to assure quality, safety, and effectiveness.
Moreover, the agency requires a generic drug manufacturer to meets the same high standards as a brand-name drug manufacturer.
The FDA has placed a high priority on working to ensure a supply of safe, effective, and cost-saving generic drugs, each manufactured under our rigorous quality standards, according to Dr. Janet Woodcock, Director, FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. https://www.myhealthyclick.com/generic-drug-quality-control/
In the United States, generic drugs approved by the FDA have accounted for 90% of the prescriptions. In the last decade, generic drugs have saved the U.S. healthcare system billions of dollars.
The FDA says, “The FDA Generic Drugs Program conducts a rigorous review to make sure generic medicines meet these requirements,” which suggests that generic drugs are effective.
To ensure generic drugs efficacy, the FDA conducts more than 3,500 inspections of the manufacturing plants each year.
Dr. Woodcock says the success of the FDA Generic Drug Program and recent efforts of the Drug Competition Action Plan “has often been described in terms of our ability to efficiently determine the safety and efficacy of generic drugs under review for approval and how many new generics we subsequently approve as a result.”
She says that the safety, efficacy, and quality of generic drugs are vital components to the success of the program. To know more about generic drugs efficacy, you can visit the FDA Generic Drugs Program web page.
