Farmaco di marca vs farmaco equivalente: e se a vincere fosse la marca commerciale?

The pharmaceutical industry is facing a period of intense change which is basically leaded by two different phenomena: the oncoming expiry of the main active principles patents - which opens the market to new generic drugs - and the ongoing gradual liberalization process in pharmaceutical distribution. The present study aims at showing the main evidences regarding the link of those two matters of topical interest, which could substantially affect the current situation. Analyzing the consumers/citizens and pharmacists selection process while choosing between an originator drug and its generic version, it is demonstrated that they show a significant gap of trust when referring to generic drugs. This gap could actually be filled by the diffusion of private labels on the market.