US government proposal to bring cheap generic drugs in the market to help reduce health care costs has initiated criticism all over the Europe Pharmaceutical sector as reported by The Wall Street Journal.Many drug makers are in a fury over cutting the patent protection for biologic drugs to 7 years from 12 years, will upend their business models and curtail their ability to develop new drugs and generate profits.U.K. based specialty drug maker Shire Plc criticized the plan, saying, "We believe that type of change in the exclusivity period will restrict innovation and investment by the life-sciences industry to develop new treatments for patients". on the other hand the Pharma giant Roche said " It believes stable regulatory conditions for biologics are necessary for driving innovation and investment in the biotechnology sector ".
The US healthcare reforms seems to affect the already hard hit economies of Europe, where the price cuts and rebates in the pharmaceuticals have induced reasonable monetary loses. But Europe deny the shortening of patent duration of branded drugs. Analysts say that the U.S. proposal ultimately may not go through, as the pharmaceutical lobby is strong enough to defend its interests. They said that a potential cut of the patent exclusivity will put more stress on the weakening industry.
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