Brand Name For Drugs Generic Alternative

Alternative identification method- Code Identifier
Code names are also assigned in addition to the other three names of the drugs for easy referencing. Code name consists of initials of the manufacturer’s name and a unique laboratory serial number given to the drug. For example: RU-486, where RU refers to Roussel-Uclaf (the French pharmaceutical company which manufactured the drug) and 486 is the laboratory serial number of the drug.

Generic Drugs and code identifiers
When the patent for a drug’s brand name expires, the company loses its exclusive rights to use that drug name. Hence, other companies get the freedom to use that particular brand name. Off-patent drugs can be manufactured by any pharmaceutical company and these drugs are called generic drugs. For example: Paracetamol was patented by Sterling Winthrop Co. The drug has become off-patent long ago and is now manufactured and marketed by many companies. The code name in this case remains the same as initially was assigned to the patented drug.