Branded and Generic Drugs

• Branded drugs are drugs which are developed by drug companies and protected by patents under specific trademarks.
• Generic drugs are sold under the names of their active ingredients instead of trademark-protected names. They contain the same active ingredients and dosages as brand-name drugs.
• Generic drugs appear after the drug patents of branded drugs expire, typically after 20 years.

Safety when using generic drugs in cancer patients

• Generic drugs are tightly regulated by authorities to ensure that they are as safe and as effective as their branded counterparts.
• Therefore, it is safe to use generic drugs in cancer patients.

Special thanks to Ms. Ho Yan Tung, medical student of Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, and Dr. Wendy Wing-Lok Chan, Department of Clinical Oncology, the University of Hong Kong, for authoring and editing this article.