We are all used to the fact that each drug has its own analogues or generics. Often, you can find a replacement for an expensive imported drug among many domestic medicines or medicines manufactured in "third world countries". Interchangeable drugs (table attached) are, in fact, drugs that are based on one active substance.
Why are originals expensive?
Often, acquiring the usual cold remedy in a pharmacy, you have to spend quite a rather large amount. So the question arises: "Are there interchangeable drugs? What do we pay big money for?"
But not so simple. There is a rather convincing justification for the established prices for many drugs. Of course, not all of them are completely effective, but they deserve preference over their counterparts.
What is the matter? M. Zhvanetsky has this phrase : "Do you have those that are, or those that treat?" Of course, analog drugs are not a placebo. Many of them improve the quality of life and help improve the health of people who are not able to spend on this condition. However, it happens that drugs made from cheap raw materials do not bring the expected effect. It all depends on the manufacturer and his integrity.
The pricing principle of expensive and cheap drugs
If you go into details, explaining the difference in the action of drugs with the same active substance, it is worth noting the essence of the analogy. Not every flour can be baked! It seems to be wheat flour, and only pancakes come out of one, and any baking from the other.
So, in the composition of cheap raw materials going to the production of inexpensive drugs of local manufacture (or in the “third world” countries), in addition to the main active substance, there are some impurities. A little refined chemical raw material in the end can give a small negative result, which affects most often as a side effect or an allergic reaction.
Expensive refined raw materials go to the production of medicines with a higher price policy.
Import substitution
Now the question often arises of import substitution. However, not every original medical product can be replaced by an analogue one. Alas, a number of drugs are unparalleled in treatment. For example, drugs for the treatment of cancer, hereditary diseases and joint diseases are unparalleled among analogues, for example, Alflutop.
There is the so-called Vyshkovsky index, which determines the degree of usefulness of drugs and its popularity. Guided by this index, you can determine for yourself the choice of the necessary drug from the whole mass of analogues. It sometimes happens that the analogue is more popular and more effective than its original "brother."
What is an analogue drug?
Analogs or generics are drugs that do not have a patent, do not differ in composition from the patented development. However, all these drugs are different from the original drugs in the qualitative and quantitative composition of additional substances.
An analogue is a kind of copy, but not a fake! After the expiration of the license for original medicines, manufacturers quickly copy the composition of the drug, replacing some of the ingredients with cheaper ones. As a result, pharmacies abound in offering their customers cheaper drugs. And the companies that developed the original, did a lot of work on testing and research, eventually lose sales markets. High turnovers from sales of analogues bring fabulous incomes, but at the same time help low-income people survive in cruel market relations.
It was this fact that made the manufacturers of original medicines to begin to manufacture analogues in countries with cheap labor. At the same time, companies monitor the quality of all products. Conflict situations from the use of analogues should not adversely affect the reputation of the original. Therefore, analogues produced at renowned pharmaceutical plants are preferred.
Copies and fakes
In addition to analogues, there are still copies of drugs that are truly counterfeit products. So, in Belarus they tried to launch an analogue of the anti-influenza drug “Tamiflu” in production, while raw materials of dubious quality were purchased in China. The result was that the drug produced does not have any therapeutic effect.
The most dangerous medicines are fakes (these are not interchangeable drugs at all, the table of which is in the article)! These drugs are produced in pharmaceutical plants of local subordination, after school hours, but more often this is done in unsanitary conditions and without observing basic hygiene rules and standards, in cellars and sheds. "Medicines" come in bypasses to pharmacies, get to sick people and cause irreparable harm to health. It is these drugs that threaten the reputation of the doctor and the huge damage to the industry.
Below is a table of foreign drugs of original production, taking into account the Wyszkowski index, in conjunction with their analogue, cheaper "counterparts". These are more than 48 pairs of interchangeable medications that take place frequently.
Interchangeable drugs
Here is an interchangeable medication (table).
| Appointment, quantity | Original | Cost in rubles | Index | Analogue | Cost in rubles | Index |
influenza powders | TeraFlu | 330 | 0,0331 | Flukomp | 195 | 0.0077 |
cold pills 10 | Nurofen | 109 | 1,0231 | Ibuprofen | 38 | 0.9 |
antibiotic pills 6 | Sumamed | 500 | 3.1332 | Z-factor | 228 | 0.1906 |
influenza pills 10 | Coldrex | 150 | 0.6943 | Influenet | one hundred | 0.0065 |
antispasmodic, pills 10 | No-shpa | 140 | 2,355 | "Drotaverin" | 40 | 0,0323 |
antifungal liquid, 15 milliliters | Exoderil | 616 | 0.625 | "Naftifina hydrochloride" | 330 | 0.0816 |
antipyretic, rectal suppositories | "Panadol" | 75 | 0.3476 | "Tsefekon D" | 51 | 0.3897 |
spasmodic tablets | "Spazmalgon" | 150 | 0.6777 | Renalgan | 88 | 0.005 |
spasmodic injections | "Spazmalgon" | 285 | 0.6777 | Geomag | 122 | 0,044 |
antihistamines pills 10 | Erius | 1000 | 0,8003 | Desloratadine | 330 | 0,0273 |
antifungal anti-candidiasis pills 1 | Diflucan | 500 | 1,0307 | "Fluconazole" | 130 | 0.8797 |
antipyretic pills 10 | "Aspirin" | 139 | 0.5482 | "Acetylsalicylic acid" | eight | 0,0592 |
antifungal cream | "Clotrimazole" | 72 | 0.8676 | Canizon | 57 | 0.391 |
antifungal vaginal tablets | Candide | 85 | 0.8676 | "Clotrimazole" | 55 | 0.3489 |
for diarrhea pills 6 | Imodium | 240 | 0.3179 | Loperamide | 58 | 0.0102 |
anti-rheumatic painkiller pills 10 | Movalis | 550 | 1.6515 | Meloxicam | 45 | 0.7007 |
| bone metabolism corrector, 10 | DONA | 1350 | 0.9476 | Glucosamine Maximum | 470 | 0.391 |
| enzymatic agent tablets, 20 | Mezim Forte | 270 | 1.5264 | Pancreatin | 28 | 0.6564 |
| fermentative, 10 | "Festal" | 107 | 1,5732 | Normoenzyme | 40 | 0,044 |
| antidiabetic pills, 30 | "Diabeton MV" | 280 | 0.6647 | Gliclazide MV | 128 | 0,0527 |
| for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, pills, 3 | "Viagra" | 1500 | 0.7319 | Dynamic | 395 | 0.3941 |
immunostimulating the juice | Immunal | 285 | 0.6658 | "Echinacea Vilar" | 178 | 0,0109 |
| venoprotective | "Detralex" | 1460 | 1.7879 | Venus | 650 | 1,0866 |
| antihistamine tablets 10 | Claritin | 188 | 0.7079 | Loratadin | 12 | 0,1017 |
| antidepressant | Heptral | 1800 | 2.1899 | Heptor | 950 | 0.643 |
antiviral tablets | Zovirax | 850 | 0.7329 | "Cyclovir" | 72 | 0.1117 |
| antibacterial tablets 10 | "Trichopol" | 65 | 0.7738 | "Metronidozole" | 19 | 0.7432 |
| ACE inhibitors tablets 10 | Kapoten | 155 | 1,5296 | Captopril | 9 | 0.5245 |
| PN inhibitor tablets, 30 | Omez | 200 | 2,5697 | Omeprozole | 55 | 0.7745 |
| antihistamine tablets | Zirtek | 236 | 1,5075 | "Cetirizine" | 80 | 0,0503 |
| secretolytic syrup | "Lazolvan" | 230 | 1,864 | "Ambroxol" | 132 | 0.0141 |
| anti-inflammatory pills, 20 | Voltaren | 320 | 0.4561 | "Ortofen" | eleven | 0,0726 |
| contraceptive pills, 21 | "Janine" | 870 | 0,307 | "Strong" | 650 | 0.1476 |
| antiseptic liquid | Miramistin | 330 | 1.6511 | Hexicon | 116 | 0.9029 |
| B vitamins, injections | Milgamma | 1100 | 2,808 | "Trigamma" | 99 | 0,0334 |
| antacid tablets | Zantak | 300 | 0.2345 | Histac | 41 | 0,0293 |
| antifungal cream | Lamisil | 700 | 0.7227 | Terbinox | 63 | 0.012 |
| improves microcirculation, tablets | Trental | 300 | 1.55 | Pentilin | 136 | 0,0366 |
| hepatoprotector capsules, 30 | Essential Forte N | 555 | 2,2309 | "Phosphoncial" | 435 | 0.0943 |
| diuretic tablets, 30 | Lasix | fifty | 0.6781 | Furasemide | 28 | 0.0148 |
| antiemetic injection | "Tserukal" | 250 | 1,1001 | "Metocopramide" | 71 | 0.2674 |
| antimicrobial antibiotic ointment | "Levomekol" | 97 | 0.8167 | Levomitil | 45 | 0,0268 |
| anti-inflammatory analgesic gel | Fastum Gel | 460 | 0.2459 | Ketoprofen | 97 | 0.0221 |
| anticoagulant gel | Lyoton 1000 | 800 | 0.2965 | Heparin-Akrigel | 210 | 0,0657 |
| nasal drops | Otrivin | 178 | 0.2831 | "Tizin Xilo" | 111 | 0,0751 |
| immunomodulators tablets, 20 | Groprinosin | 1400 | 0.5692 | "Innoprinosin" | 1200 | 2,917 |
| tissue regeneration stimulator | Bepanten | 370 | 0.7003 | Pantoderm | 240 | 0,1216 |
| sedative drops | "Valocordin" | 281 | 0.3382 | Corvaldin | 144 | 0,0318 |
| antibiotics tablets 16 | "Flemoxin Salutab" | 490 | 3.4917 | Ospamox | 200 | 0.107 |
This is the so-called list of interchangeable drugs. It is not complete, of course, since new analogues are constantly appearing, the old drugs that have become irrelevant disappear. In principle, each large pharmacy has its own table - analogues of expensive drugs.
Prescribing drugs
When prescribing medications for treatment, the doctor should, first of all, take into account the social status and income of the patient. Rich people used to pay for the speed of the result, for the quality of treatment, for the brand. The rest combine the quality of drugs with their cost. You can not drive a patient into a corner, writing out an expensive original - he still will not buy it.
Treatment is carried out by "grandmother's advice" or not at all. If such a patient is prescribed an inexpensive analogue, there is a possibility that the appointment will be fulfilled. This will happen because the cost of drugs does not scare the patient to the extent that his price for an expensive original scares. That is why the table "Analogues of expensive drugs" will be very helpful.
I would like to add to all of the above: never buy medicine from your hands. In this case, there is no guarantee that this is a medicine, and not poison or a dummy. In the pharmacy, to confirm the quality of drugs, you can ask the pharmacist to provide accompanying documents if there is doubt about their production, as well as familiarize yourself with available analogues or substitutes. “Interchangeable Medicines: Table” will be very helpful here.
Black list of Roszdravnadzor
Roszdravnadzor has identified a blacklist of pharmaceutical companies. That is, their interchangeable drugs (table), which are analogues of world famous brands, are best not used in treatment. It was established by the test method that the medicines produced at these plants are of dubious quality. Among them: "Belmedpreparaty", "Tatpharmkhimpreparaty", "Biochemist", "Herbion Pakistan", "Farmak", "Sagmel Inc", "Dalhimpharm", "Biosynthesis" and others.
In conclusion, I would like to add that before purchasing a medicine, you should familiarize yourself with the attached instructions for it, where all its advantages in treatment and a number of side effects are indicated. To do this, there is a table of foreign drugs. When choosing an analogue, you should consult your doctor.
The choice of medicine is the choice of the patient. Be healthy!