Know the difference between a reference, generic, and similar medicine

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for every Louise Henrique Oliveira

It is known to most people that there are three types of medicines: reference, general and the like. But in the end, what is the difference between them? In another video posted on his YouTube channel, Roberto Jano, a cardiologist and pacemaker, answered this question. According to him, we first need to understand what each of them is.

“The reference medicine is the leading medicine, was the first to be developed. This is the one that laboratories have invested for years, decades of study, a lot of money, to produce a substance that treats some diseases. After release to market, the pharmaceutical industry holds a 20-year patent for this drug. This time it can only be sold by the company that managed to produce it. After these 20 years, the patent for this substance is released and so other laboratories can produce the generic drugs and similar drugs,” he began.

Therefore, according to Yano, the generic is an exact copy of the reference drug. Dr. explained. Yano, who then emphasized that the generics are cheaper — on average 35% less than the originals — because unlike the former, it didn’t need years of study or big investments like reference drugs.

“However, it is necessary to clarify that the generics are in addition to the original, precisely because they are an exact copy of the reference drug,” he added. Also, according to the doctor, speaking about similar drugs, it is necessary to understand that among them there are two types: homologous and bioidentical. “Similar bioequivalence is one that has already been demonstrated, approved by Anvisa, and works the same way as the reference drug,” Yano explained to modify it: “If your doctor prescribes a reference drug, you can change it to the generic or similar bioequivalent, but not By common similarity, because common is unless studies prove its bioequivalence,” he said.