Some Democrats Scold Obama Over His Position On Trade Talks

In a rebuff to President Barack Obama, a half dozen Congressional Democrats have written to complain at the terms being proposed by the US Trade Representative in the ongoing Trans Pacific Partnership talks which are being held this week in Singapore. Specifically, they object to provisions pertaining to patents on prescription drugs they claim would affect the availability and cost of generic medicines. The letter was delivered to the White House following the recent disclosure by WikiLeaks that the US Trade Rep was pushing various proposals that angered and upset a raft of consumer groups and patient advocates, who are concerned the Obama administration will embrace trade policies that will eventually reverberate among Americans, since the US will eventually be obligated to adopt the same terms (back story). Among the proposals causing concern: evergreening, which refers to patent extensions based on minor changes in a drug; requiring countries make patent term extensions available when regulatory review exceeds a certain amount of time; linking marketing approval to patent status and shifts the burden for early patent enforcement to regulatory authorities, and longer data exclusivity for drugmakers, which would thwart rivals from marketing similar medicines. Another proposal is a push for 12 years of data exclusivity for new biologics. The notion contradicts White House budget proposals over the past three years that called for shrinking the 12-year exclusivity period, whi...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs