Independent drug-information project
Generic medicines, without the marketing
Four plain-language guides built on primary regulatory sources — the U.S. FDA, the European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization. Nothing is sold here.
A generic medicine contains the same active ingredient, in the same strength and dosage form, as a medicine that was already approved. It is not a copy sold on trust: before it reaches a pharmacy shelf, its manufacturer must prove to a regulator that the body absorbs it in essentially the same way as the original product.
That much is well documented. What is far less clear to most people is everything around the medicine — which websites are actually licensed pharmacies, what a legitimate pharmacy is required to ask you for, and which warning signs reliably indicate a counterfeit operation. The WHO estimates that roughly 1 in 10 medical products in low- and middle-income countries is substandard or falsified, and unlicensed websites are a major channel for them.
The four core guides
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What is a generic medicine?
A generic medicine contains the same active ingredient as an approved reference product and must prove bioequivalence before approval. Here is how that process actually works.
Read the guide -
Generic vs brand: what actually differs
Side-by-side comparison of generic and brand-name medicines: active ingredient, approval requirements, price, appearance, and the narrow cases where the difference can matter clinically.
Read the guide -
How to verify a pharmacy licence
Step-by-step checks using official registers: the EU common logo, NABP .pharmacy and Safe.Pharmacy, the UK GPhC register, and national regulator databases.
Read the guide -
How to spot a fake online pharmacy
The concrete signals that identify an illegal or counterfeit online pharmacy, what falsified medicines actually contain, and what to do if you have already ordered.
Read the guide
Frequently asked questions
Are generic medicines less effective than brand-name ones?
No. To be approved, a generic must demonstrate bioequivalence to the reference product. The FDA states that a generic "works in the same way and provides the same clinical benefit as its brand-name version."
Why are generics so much cheaper?
The generic manufacturer does not repeat the original clinical development programme, and once several generics of the same molecule compete, prices fall further. The FDA reports that generics typically cost substantially less than the brand, with the gap widening as more competitors enter.
Does this site sell medicines?
No. There are no products, no affiliate links to pharmacies and no price comparisons here. It is a reference resource only.