Drug Information Association Pharmacovigilance and Risk Management Strategies 2017: Overview of the Generic Drug Program and Surveillance.

The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) generic drug program has dramatically increased the availability of affordable, high quality generic drugs. The foundation of generic drug approvals is a two-tiered regulatory framework of pharmaceutical equivalence and bioequivalence. Intrinsic to both of these is consideration of the clinical relevance of formulation and bioequivalence data to support an inference of therapeutic equivalence, based on clear evidence that there are no significant differences between the generic drug and the brand name drug.

Generic drugs--safe, effective, and affordable.

This article discusses the history and evolution of the process for generic drug evaluation and approval in the United States, with emphasis on locally acting dermatologic products. The requirements for in vivo bioequivalence (BE) testing and the statistical criteria for BE are discussed, and an example of a topical antifungal dermatologic product is used to demonstrate the BE determination for locally acting drugs. Other factors in the dispensing of prescription medications that are not within the Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority are also mentioned.