What drug to buy? generic brand substitution in base of the pyramid markets: Evidence from Ghana

Prescription brand substitution also known as generic substitution (GS)is a worldwide phenomenon. In the pharmaceutical industry, growth of the generic drug market implies growth in the number and types of substitutes for ethical (innovator) pharmaceutical products. This threat is relevant mainly due to the comparatively lower prices of these substitutes. Ultimately, prescription brand substitution renders the various marketing efforts and investments of the affected pharmaceutical companies fruitless. The efforts in the literature have focused more on cost as the reason but there seems to be more reasons than cost in developing countries like Ghana. The study examined the marketing-related impacts of prescription brand substitution at community pharmacies in Ghana. Utilizing the ideas of Porter’s five competitive forces model, specifically the threat of substitute products and services, the study which is cross-sectional, deductive and descriptive survey in nature, used a mix of cluster sampling and purposive sampling to arrive at a final sample size of 50 pharmacies and 9 pharmaceutical companies,. Data collected were analysed using simple linear regression and descriptive statistics. Weak but statistically significant relationship between frequency of pharmacy calls and nature of drug substitution was observed. Also, prescription brand substitution is prevalent at community pharmacies in Ghana, and that ethical companies are the most affected. Pharmacy front line staff and patients played contributory roles in this phenomenon. It is recommended that Ethical pharmaceutical companies should acknowledge, plan and act in order to minimize the competitive effects of prescription brand substitution