Have you heard about generic allergy medicine? Does anybody know what is a difference between generic and conventional medicine?

Hi Debra,

Your question is a little confusing. Generic allergy medicine is conventional medicine and there is not any differences between these two. Let me explain. You can make difference in conventional medicine only by brand and generic names (or if it is prescription or over-the-counter medication, but I think that we do not talking about that difference now).

The simpliest way to explain is to give you an example. The allergy medicine we all know under the brand name of Allegra is just a tradename of drug Fexofenadine. So, we could say that Fexofenadine is generic drug, and Allegra is the brand name for drug Fexofenadine. Becouse that people often say "Generic Allegra" meaning on "Fexofenadine".

When a pharmaceutical company discover a new drug, they usually launch it on the market under their brand name. They have exclusive rights on this medicine for a certain period of time, before other drug companies are allowed to produce it. It allows the developer company to recoup the costs of research, When the licence expired, other pharmaceutical companies are able to produce this same medicine under their tradenames, but they would not have any investment in research and would cetainly sell this medicine at a cheaper rate. You can see these differences

Robin