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adjectifs en -ly
The Work-Up
Costly Drugs Known as Biologics Prompt
Exclusivity Debate
July 22, 2009
The New York Times
By ANDREW POLLACK
A bitter Congressional fight over the cost of superexpensive biotechnology
drugs has come down to a single, hotly debated number: How many years should
makers of those drugs be exempt from generic competition?
But what few people in Washington seem to recognize — or publicly acknowledge,
anyway — is that this magic number may ultimately not matter as much as the most
vitriolic debaters insist.
At issue are such drugs as Biogen Idec’s Avonex, for multiple sclerosis, which
can cost more than $20,000 a year; Genentech’s Avastin for cancer, which can
cost more than $50,000; and several Genzyme drugs for rare diseases that can
cost $200,000 a year or more. Typically, such drugs are given by injection or
intravenous infusions.
These drugs, known as biologics, are complex proteins made in vats of living
cells. Because they are hard to copy exactly, they have not been subject to the
generic competition that eventually knocks down the price of drugs like Lipitor
and Prozac. Pills like Lipitor, known in the industry as small-molecule drugs,
are made from simple chemicals whose recipes are easy to reproduce.
[ ... ]
“If your patents are strong, let your patents stand for themselves,” said Katie
Huffard, executive director of the Coalition for a Competitive Pharmaceutical
Market, a group of employers, insurers, pharmacies and generic makers lobbying
for easier access to biosimilars. “That’s what every other industry has to do.”
Costly Drugs Known as
Biologics Prompt Exclusivity Debate, NYT, 22.7.2009,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/business/22biogenerics.html
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