Have you ever wondered can a Canadian pharmacy offer 30-60% discount over the prices of US drugs? The answer is short and simple: Generics. Generics are the reason the pharmaceutical industry of Canada singlehandedly accounts for 50% of prescription drugs imported by Americans, as per the Wall Street Journal.
Canadian Pharmacy: Meaning of Generics and How They Work
To understand the nature of generics and what makes their production inexpensive, we need to discuss the development process of drugs. Read on.
An 800 Million Dollar Medication
A lot of money and resources are invested in the development of a new drug. Many versions of the drug need to be tested for efficacy and safety. Only 5 of these versions make it to the clinical trials. The clinical trials choose the version that gets out in the market. The pharmaceutical company that develops the new drug bears the costs associated with the research and development.
In order to recover the cost of the drugs for carrying on research on new drugs, it is important for the pharmaceutical companies to sell the medicine at a certain price. This is the story of the US pharmaceutical industry. Most of the RD that is being conducted in the world is concentrated in America. That is why the cost of drugs is high.
A drug available in the market can be reverse-engineered to obtain its composition and manufacturing process. This is done by Canadian pharmacy companies who have not developed the drug. In this manner they bypass the costs associated with actually developing the drug. These medicines are called ‘generics’ and are the driving force behind the success of the Canadian pharmaceutical sector.
Patents and Expiration
Patenting a drug prevents other companies from selling ‘generics’. However, the protection lasts for a limited period of time and after the expiration of the patent, competing pharmacies are allowed to manufacture ‘generics’ of a drug. The generics are exact low-cost replicas of the drug with respect to composition, effect and adherence to safety standards. They are identifiable from the original from their labels or physical appearance. Canadian pharmacy companies have successfully made it their forte to produce and sell ‘generics’. They have targeted the highest selling products developed by US pharmaceutical companies.
Canadian Pharmacy: Are Generics and Branded Drugs The Same?
Generics are same as the original drug with regard to effectiveness and safety. In medical terms, a generic is said to be the therapeutically equivalent of the patented drug. The only difference would be in the appearance of the drug.
Is it Safe to Buy Generics from a Canadian pharmacy?
One of the pillars of the Canadian pharmacy sector is the manufacture and sale of generics. Stringent measures have been put in place by the regulators to ensure that the consumer is safe. That is why, when you buy prescription drugs from a genuine Canadian pharmacy, the drug is guaranteed to be fit for use. However, there is a lot of importance of the word ‘genuine’ in the last statement.