What is the difference between an innovator and a generic drug?
A generic drug is a strict copy of an original or a brand name drug product for which a patent has entered in the public domain. Once the patent or patents have been expired, other pharmaceutical firms are allowed to manufacture and to market the same drug under an International Common Denomination (ICD) name or a different brand name. In some instances and by political choices and for public health policy, special arrangements may be obtained on drugs that are still protected by valid patents to accommodate public health interest to be produced by generic manufacturers. For example, several AIDS [...]