[Pharm-policy] SENATORS TO HOST DISCUSSIONS ON PATENT LAW

[James Love]

Richard Jefferys posted this to the healthgap list.  Jamie


>From the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report
	
#3  DRUG PRICING: SENATORS TO HOST DISCUSSIONS ON PATENT LAW

   Senate Judiciary Chair Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has invited patient and
consumer groups to meet with him to discuss pharmaceutical patent laws,
CongressDaily reports. Over the next year, Hatch and Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Chair James Jeffords (R-Vt.) will host a
series of discussions on the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Act and "varied stakeholder
concerns about reopening the law." The meetings, which are slated to begin
next month, will focus on how the 15-year-old drug patent law should be
reformed in light of new business practices and changing regulatory
procedures. In a letter to patient advocates, Hatch said, "Once this
analysis is accomplished, we can consider what changes should be made in
order to facilitate the next generation of diagnostic tests and new
lifesaving and life-improving treatments." Hatch also has said that the law
-- which balances rewards of patent time for new products developed by
brand name drug companies with consumers' need to access lower-cost generic
drugs -- should not be reopened "unless it is approached in a way that is
fair to all parties."

   THE PLAYERS

   Most consumer and patient advocacy groups seek to prevent drug patent
extensions and stop what they see as the "chipping away at the law" by drug
firms seeking extensions for individual patents. They also would like to
increase the speed at which generic drugs enter the market and examine the
marketing expenses hidden in brand name drug companies' research and
development costs. But some patient groups, such as the National Kidney
Cancer Foundation, want to push drug firms to find cures, even if it
requires granting patent extensions. Although generic drugmakers would like
to reform drug patent listings, many are reluctant about reopening the act,
fearing it "could end up worse." The brand name pharmaceutical industry has
remained silent on the issue thus far, primarily due to pressure to account
for skyrocketing drug costs. But many industry insiders would like to see
an increase in the exclusive marketing time for new products, arguing that
about 80% of market share is lost to generic products within the first year
coming off patent. While "acknowledging that it is not a politically
popular stance," brand name firms would like to raise patent time from half
the time it takes them to test a drug -- the current practice -- to the
full time (Fulton, CongressDaily, 2/14).




=======================================================
James Love, Director           | http://www.cptech.org
Consumer Project on Technology | mailto:love@cptech.org 
P.O. Box 19367                 | voice: 1.202.387.8030
Washington, DC 20036           | fax:   1.202.234.5176
=======================================================