When a new medication is ready for approval, the manufacturer chooses a brand name under which to market the drug. This name will be used while the medication is patent-protected and usually afterward as well. Since it is chosen by the manufacturer, the brand name is often catchy, easy to say and thus easy to remember. However, each medication also receives a chemical name and generic name assigned by official councils.
When the brand's drug patent expires, other drug manufacturers can develop their own version of the medication. These would be marketed as generic products, using only the generic name. Each generic must still pass the rigorous standards established by the FDA with respect to identity, strength, quality, purity and potency. The generic product must be shown to be bioequivalent, or the same as, the brand product with only a narrow margin allowed for variation.
However, this generic approval process often requires shorter and less complex scientific trials that save development costs for the generic manufacturers. These savings can be passed on to patients and providers. Several manufacturers can develop competing generics of the same product, increasing competition and furthering savings. Inactive ingredients and the appearance of generic medications can vary from their brand counterparts, but these changes must be proven not to affect safety or efficacy. Today, generics make up 8 out of every 10 prescriptions dispensed, offering comparable quality as their brand equivalents while decreasing healthcare costs overall. – Jeffrey Pilz, former pharmacy resident