"Big Pharma" / Genéricos: Juntos pero...

It used to be that the sides were clear. Big Pharma developed new drugs, while generic companies like Teva copied these medicines once their patent protection expired. Each industry had its own trade group, lawyers and PR teams. Disputes were common.

Yet as today’s WSJ reports, the industries are converging. Teva is defending a brand-name multiple-sclerosis drug, Copaxone, from rivals seeking to sell a generic version. Among those rivals is the Sandoz generic unit of Swiss drug giant Novartis, in partnership with Momenta.

There’s a host of reasons why the two types of drug makers are treading on each others’ turf, including Big Pharma’s search for other revenue streams to cushion against the losses from generic competition as their products go off patent. (If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!) Meantime, generic giants like Teva are looking for products that upstarts in India can’t compete against.

So Mylan — another company seeking to copy Copaxone, with partner NATCO Pharma – has a unit to sell branded products, such as the EpiPen auto-injector for treating life-threatening allergic reactions. And Teva has proposed a $6.8 billion purchase of branded drug maker Cephalon. (Más)