Postmarketing Surveillance of Generic Drug Usage and Substitution Patterns (U01)

With the significant increase of generic market share, it is becoming imperative that the public and the scientific community have confidence that the FDA review of generic drugs will ensure that a generic drug is interchangeable with the brand product as well as other generics under all approved indications and conditions of use. Some complex generic products such as vancomycin capsules, sodium ferric gluconate injection, enoxaparin injection and others are approved based on innovative but controversial methods. The purpose of this study is to evaluate existing tools and to develop new methods to proactively monitor the drug safety, efficacy, usage, and substitution patterns of recently approved generic drugs whose approval was controversial and to evaluate if controversy during the approval process affects their acceptance by physicians and patients. The outcome of this study will help assure the public about generic drug safety and efficacy, and support the Agency to continue developing innovative methods for generic drug product approval.