What is the typical cost difference between generics and brand-name drugs?
The average brand-name medication costs around $150, while the average generic medication is less than $20. It’s important that people don’t relate lower costs to lower quality. You might ask, why the price difference if the drug is just as good? Brand-name drug manufacturers spend a lot of money on research and development, marketing, direct-to-consumer advertising and sales representatives to promote the product to physicians. These expenses are built into the drug’s cost. Generic-drug manufacturers have much lower costs and pass these savings on to you. They don’t have overhead costs, research and development, direct-to-consumer advertising, or a sales force. They’re then able to produce and price these products at a lower cost. What are the pros and cons of using generics versus brand-name drugs? From a clinical standpoint, a generic drug is identical to its brand-name counterpart. But there may be several manufacturers for a generic instead of a single manufacturer. Generics can a
