A generic medication is defined by the FDA as: a copy that is the same as a brand-name drug in dosage, safety, and strength, how it is taken, quality, performance, and intended use.

When the pain reliever acetaminophen was developed in the 1950s, it was only available under its brand name, Tylenol. Today, acetaminophen can be found in many generic and store-brand versions. Similarly, many drug products, prescription and over-the-counter, have generic versions available. An estimated 44 percent of all prescriptions in the United States are filled with generic drugs.

So what are the benefits of generic medications?

The biggest benefit is price. Generic ED medications can be up to 80% cheaper than their brand name counterparts. Why pay more when a generic meds work in the same way and in the same amount of time as brand-name medications.

Why are generic drugs cheaper?

When a new drug is brought to market the price reflects the massive cost of clinical trails and development. This can run into billions of dollars. The drug company will normally have a patent that protects anyone else from producing the drug for a set period of time, eg. 10 years. The drug company hopes to maximize its profit over this time, as it knows it has a limited period before the drug patent runs out and other companies can start producing the drug. When the patent expires, other companies can copy the drug, ie. create a generic version BUT, they can sell it at a much reduced price because they don't have to incur the development and other costs. So the original drug company has to sell the drug for maximum profit to get back the money it spent on development.

Are Generics safe?

Generics medications are regulated by the FDA in the United States. See this article for more information about what the FDA has to say about Generic Medications. The European equivilant of the FDA is the European Medicineds Agency and is responsible for generic drug regulation in the EU. A 2009 ruling of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CMPH) has recommended a generic version of Viagra, Sildenafil Teva and Sildenafil Actavis for approval (see PDF link at the end of this article).