Opening a path for biotech generics

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, September, 2006 | by Linda Loyd

A debate has raged for years within the pharmaceutical industry, among generic-drug-makers, and on Capitol Hill about whether to allow lower-cost generic or "follow-on" versions of biotech drugs. With some biologic drugs costing up to $100,000 a year for rare disorders, generics offer the promise of lower costs.

The stakes are huge: Biotech drug sales are expected to exceed $60 billion by 2010. Now several developments in Washington could help to break the deadlock. U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D., Calif.) plans to introduce legislation in the current session of Congress this fall to create a regulatory framework to approve "biosimilar," or generic biologic drugs. Waxman is scheduled to speak today at that generic-drug-makers' fall policy meeting in Washington. In the past,...