The pharmaceutical industry is supported because medicines benefit one's health. When a company discovers a possible drug leader it applies for a patent, which in the US lasts for 20 years. However, if the medicine takes, say, eight years of clinical trials before going to market, only 12 years will be left on the patent. The company takes their innovation to market and charges as much as society can tolerate with respect to its needs and ability to pay. Thereafter the company will aim to recuperate all the costs of its past global research activities, profits for its investors and bankrolling the company's capital. When the patent expires the generic companies can legally manufacture such medicines and sell them at a much lower price.

As generics become available the original brand may continue to psychologically connect with the consumer. People may be ignorant or suspicious of generics, but all medicines sold in the Western world have to comply with specific pharmacopoeial standards, so all presentations of the same medicine are equal in effectiveness.

See the pictured prices from October 17, 2017 in the Putney, London ‘One Pound Shop'. One pound currency conversion was NZ$1.85, earliest expiry date starting 2020. It buys either a 14-tab pack of Loratadine or three 16-tab packs of paracetamol.

D Wilson, Mount Maunganui (Abridged)