How community pharmacists perceive generic substitution impact on community pharmacies profits in absence of medicines price control policy: a Malaysian pilot nationwide study

• Main Authors: Ahmad, Nor Amalina, Abd-Jabar, Nur-Hamizah, Awaluddin, Noor Hamizah, Kamaruddin, Nursyahirah, Mohd-Rasid, Nursyazwani, Elsayed, Tarek Mohamed Ali, Elkalmi, Ramadan Mohamed Mahmod, Hammad, Mohamed Anwar
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: SAGE Journals 2017
• Subjects: R Medicine (General); RS Pharmacy and materia medica
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/53287/1/JGM680390%20%28edit%29.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/53287/7/How%20community%20pharmacists%20perceive%20generic_scopus.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/53287/; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1741134316680390?journalCode=jgma; https://doi.org/10.1177/1741134316680390
• Institution: Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia

Background Generic medicines are introduced to the market after the expiry of the patented innovator medicine. Being usually sold at lower prices compared to branded medicines, they may provide a low-cost alternative for consumers. In Malaysia, where there is no Medicines Price Control Policy, it is not known if pharmacy profits differ between generic and branded medicines. It is also not known if this difference may affect pharmacists practice of generic substitution. Objective To develop and validate questionnaire to evaluate the perception of Malaysian community pharmacists toward the impact of generic substitution on community pharmacies’ profits. Setting Community pharmacies in 9 out of the 12 Malaysian states including Pahang, Kelantan, Melaka, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Pulau Pinang, Selangor, Terengganu, and Sarawak. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using a newly developed questionnaire. A convenient sample of 99 community pharmacists was surveyed using this questionnaire. Result The Cronbach’s alpha value for all of the statements in theme 2 of the questionnaire is 0.706, which lies in an acceptable range. It is found that generic medicines constituted 41–60% of merchandise in 41 of the surveyed pharmacies. Of the respondents, 72.9% stated recommending generic more than branded medicines and 89.9% of them reported that customers accepted their recommendations. Community pharmacists agreed that generic substitution results in financial benefits to community pharmacies. This can be found as most of the pharmacists agree that generic medicines lower whole sale price results in merchandise cost reduction, increase in pharmacy profit, higher profit margin, increase in pharmacy sales, and rate of return and reduction in community pharmacies capital. The maximum profit margin obtained with generic medicine is >100%, whereas for branded medicine, it is 81–100%. Conclusion Generic medicines are actively dispensed by community pharmacists and result in higher profit margin than innovator medicines.