By Catherine Larkin June 25 (Bloomberg)Biologic drugs should be subject to generic competition in the U.S. after seven years, the Obama administration said, calling it a “generous compromise.”
Access to cheaper copies of medicines made by Amgen Inc., Roche Holding AG and other biotechnology companies is “a key element” in reducing health-care
costs, White House officials said in a letter to Representative Henry Waxman obtained today by Bloomberg News. Brand-name companies have lobbied for 12 to 14 years of exclusivity, while Waxman proposed only five.
Americans spend more than $60 billion a year on biologic drugs to treat cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and other serious illnesses at a cost of as much as $200,000 for each medicine, Ernst & Young estimates. Unlike conventional pills, biologics can’t be copied even after patents expire. Patient groups, payers and generic drugmakers have battled biotechnology companies for more than two years over how to allow competition.
La industria se las "prometía felices" y esperaba 14 años...Habian hecho todo el "lobbying" del mundo pero vino Obama y "se quedarán con la gana".
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