GENERIC DRUG

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does generic drug mean? 

• GENERIC DRUG (noun)
  The noun GENERIC DRUG has 1 sense:

1. when the patent protection for a brand-name drug expires generic versions of the drug can be offered for sale if the FDA agrees

  Familiarity information: GENERIC DRUG used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GENERIC DRUG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

When the patent protection for a brand-name drug expires generic versions of the drug can be offered for sale if the FDA agrees

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

generic drugs are usually cheaper than brand-name drugs

Hypernyms ("generic drug" is a kind of...):

drug (a substance that is used as a medicine or narcotic)

generic (any product that can be sold without a brand name)

Antonym:

brand-name drug (a drug that has a trade name and is protected by a patent (can be produced and sold only by the company holding the patent))

 Context examples 

The FDA bases evaluations of substitutability, or therapeutic equivalence of a generic drug on scientific evaluation.

(Generic Drug, NCI Thesaurus)

A generic drug product must contain the identical amounts of the same active ingredient(s) as the brand name product and is expected to have equal effect when substituted for the brand name product.

(Generic Drug, NCI Thesaurus)