A generic drug is a medication created to be the same as an already marketed brand-name drug in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics, and intended use.

In other words, you can take a generic medicine as an equal substitute for its brand-name counterpart.

Clicks customers are increasingly opting for generic medicine driven by lower prices as the group plans an aggressive rollout of pharmacies next year, including specialised 24-hour pharmacies.

Generics include not only Clicks branded products but also those from other pharmaceutical companies. In the year to August, sales from generics grew 10% and made up 59% of pharmacy sales by value and 69% of volume. Pharmacy sales for the year to August rose  8.9% to R9.7bn...