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Posted 10/02/2010
According to The Associated Press (AP), US President Obama and US House Democrat Henry Waxman have teamed up to make a last-minute push to significantly pare back the 12-year period of data exclusivity lawmakers provided biologicals in the healthcare reform bill. With White House and congressional bargainers moving toward a final health bill, President Obama and Representative Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, are trying to reduce the curbs against competition to 10 years or less.
If they are successful, it would be a major blow to the industry's leading lobbyists at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) as well as the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), who have managed to hold together a large coalition of US Democrats and Republicans in favour of the long stretch of protection from generic competition.