As a working definition, a pharmaceutical is any compound that is manufactured for use as a drug with medicinal purposes. In other words, it is a drug that is produced for the specific treatment, prevention or management of a specific disease.
By this definition, supplement and herbal products that are not approved or sold for the specific treatment, prevention, diagnosis or cure of a disease would not be considered a pharmaceutical. This is why these products carry the explicit statement that they are not intended for these purposes.
Many pharmaceuticals are over-the-counter medications. These are often sold by brands, and these brands are associated with specific pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers. A good example of this would be Tylenol or Aspirin; they are both seen as a brand name as well as a medication.
The Private Label Option
Private label pharmaceuticals, on the other hand, are sold not by the manufacturer or the pharmaceutical company under their brand, but by a distributor or a retailer. Many of these retailers are large chain pharmacies or department stores or even grocery stores with pharmacies as part of the services offered.
The benefit to the retailer in offering private label pharmaceuticals is the cost savings they can pass on to their customers. As they are not branded or advertised, they are lower cost to manufacture and promote, so they are an additional in-store way to provide lower cost alternative to shoppers from the branded option.
Designing Packaging
Sometimes, with private label pharmaceuticals, the private label products may offer similar or different packaging options. In this way, the private label can often address specific areas of need for the consumer in the choice of packaging. Working with marketing test groups as well as with top packaging companies, the type, volume and production requirements for any private label over-the-counter medications can be easily managed for quality, safety and packaging options.
