New drugs require years of research and clinical trials to prove their efficacy, and compliance with a lot of formalities before they are approved for the market. Pharmaceutical companies cite these as reasons for prolonged patent and other kinds of brand protection.
Branded products are priced high and the ordinary consumer often finds them unaffordable. This is particularly true in developing countries where the income levels of most people are low.
Generics are drugs without a brand name that are made using the research and trial findings used for the branded version. Even generic drugs have to conform to the same safety standards as branded drugs.
Generic drugs are cheaper because the companies making them did not incur the heavy development and promotional expenses of the original brand name drug. Additionally, because several companies are making the generic version, competition drives down the price.
While the above is the scenario at the introduction of innovative new drugs, pharmaceutical companies have been accused of making minor changes to an existing, proven drug and claiming brand name protection for the modified version. In this case, they would not have incurred any heavy research and development expenses and the claim for continued protection is not justified.
Brand name protection prolongs the period of lifesaving drugs becoming available at affordable prices. As a result, there is a strong movement for restricting protection to as low a period as possible.
Read about generic drugs at the FDA Website.
