Linking up with the topical activities of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) in defining the concepts generic alternative, generic substitution, therapeutic alternative, therapeutic substitution and therapeutic replacement and the proposed policy, the paper describes the state and development in the field of generics. The attention is devoted to the position of generics in selected countries, their definitions, labelling, pricing and generic substitution.

        Key words: generics – definition – labelling – pricing – generic substitution