Adventures in Generic Drugs

Generic biotech drugs may be getting a serious boost: part of President Obama's budget is designed to foster development of these follow-on biologics. Over at Patent Baristas, Stephen Albainy-Jenei blogs about the Biotechnology Industry Organization's response at a press conference. Jim Greenwood, CEO and president of BIO, "pointed out that in order to preserve incentives to research, develop and manufacture new innovative therapies and cures, as well as new indications for such products, any statutory pathway for follow-on biologics must include substantial non-patent data exclusivity," according to Albainy-Jenei. "Greenwood stressed that any discussion must recognize that the methods used to show that one chemical drug is the same as another are different from and insufficient for biologics."