Generic Therapeutic Alternatives

Alternatives are available — even when there is no generic for your brand-name drug

Patents typically protect brand-name drugs for 17-20 years. This means that no generic equivalent can be developed during that time. For brand-name drugs that have no generic equivalent — like Livalo®, Cozaar® and Nexium® — generic therapeutic alternatives may be available.

Examples of therapeutic alternatives are:

Brand-name Generic Therapeutic Alternative
Livalo simvastatin, lovastatin
Cozaar valsartan, irbesartan
Nexium omeprazole, lansoprazole

Review our drug list to find alternatives for formulary drugs.

How generic therapeutic alternatives work

Though they are not the exact chemical equivalents of the brand-name drugs they replace, generic therapeutic alternatives treat medical conditions in a similar way.

Let’s take Livalo, for example — one of the most frequently prescribed drugs on the market today. Livalo is in a therapeutic class of drugs called “statins,” chemical agents used to treat high cholesterol. Because all statins work in a similar way, another statin, the generic therapeutic alternative simvastatin, may be a sensible and cost-effective alternative.

Talk to your doctor to find out if a generic therapeutic alternative could be right for you.