Health Care: Is Obama Taking on the Biotech Industry?
by ilene - January 15th, 2010 12:53 pm
Health Care: Is Obama Taking on the Biotech Industry?
By Karen Tumulty, courtesy of TIME
A while back, Michael Scherer and I wrote this story about how the biotech industry has been one of the big winners in the health care debate.
Maybe not so much, it now appears. The New York Times reports that President Obama may be making a last stand to bring lower-cost generic biologics to market more quickly:
President Obama is pushing for a last-minute change in the final health care bill that would shorten the time that expensive biotechnology drugs would be shielded from generic competition, pharmaceutical industry officials said Thursday.
Any White House intervention would be welcome news to generic pharmaceutical companies, as well as to some consumer groups, insurers and big employers, which have complained that the proposed House and Senate bills would not allow for robust competition.
The rumored proposal to give the industry up to a decade’s worth of additional protection beyond their patents would still be significantly more than the seven years that Obama originally sought, the five years that House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman wanted, or the Federal Trade Commission’s recommendations, which was … zero. So you could argue that’s still a pretty good return on investment for the $609,000 a day that the industry has been spending to lobby this bill.
The NYT reports:
One thing that is certain is that lobbying will now intensify. The generic industry and others interested in a shorter exclusivity period have started a last-minute television, radio and print advertising campaign complaining that 12 years is a “sweetheart deal” for the brand-name pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Mr. Greenwood said his trade group is putting out the word for biotechnology companies to call their representatives and demand the existing language be maintained.
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Generic Drug Makers
by Phil - November 10th, 2009 5:08 pm
Here’s another terrific post by Pharmboy, this time discussing Generic Drug Makers. - Ilene
Generic Drug Makers
Courtesy of Pharmboy
Coming to the end of a good year, and good riddance for some! Whilst the market has been irrational for some time, it is not about what we think but rather about what others that have money think. I have my notions, and here are a few companies that may do well in the New Year with a passed health care reform bill.
I really like the generic market right now. With patents expiring you can literally gauge how much a generic will make based on the patents expiring in the next few months. These generics are the vultures that follow the in a pack of lions. They have a good way of scavenging for their food and vultures have a distinct relationship with the lions. They may not come up with the drugs but they are definitely going to make a nice margin from them. But the competition is fierce these days, and competitors in the generic market include Watson (WPI), Teva (TEVA) , Dr Reddy’s Labs (RDY), Hi-Tech Pharmacal (HITK), Par Pharmaceuticals (PRX), and Caraco (CPD).
First up, Mylan Pharmaceuticals (MYL) - I know that Phil has liked Teva in the past and I have noted Mylan (#3 in generics), WPI and RDY (pre-GSK rumors). Currently, Mylan has blown through its 52 week high so is it still a buy? In short answer, yes. Mylan’s future comes from a swath of FDA approvals that have come in over the past few months.
- August 27, 2009 Mylan Begins Marketing First Generic Version of BenzaClin(R) Acne Treatment
- August 18, 2009 Mylan’s Matrix Receives First and Only Tentative FDA Approval Under PEPFAR for Generic Version of Atripla(R) HIV Treatment
- August 10, 2009 Mylan Receives FDA Approval for Generic Version of Migraine Treatment Imitrex(R)
- July 20, 2009 Mylan Receives FDA Approval for Additional Strengths of the Antipsychotic Haloperidol— Key News from the article. Currently, Mylan has 119 ANDAs pending FDA approval representing $84.7 billion in annual brand sales, according to IMS Health. Thirty-five of these pending ANDAs are potential first-to-file opportunities, representing $16.6 billion in annual brand sales, according to IMS Health.
- July 16, 2009 Mylan Receives FDA Approval for Generic Version of Thyroid Deficiency Treatment Cytomel
- July 7, 2009 Mylan Receives FDA Approval for Generic Version of Prostate Cancer Treatment Casodex
- June 17, 2009 Mylan Receives FDA Approval for Additional Strength of Generic…
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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW. She manages the Favorites backup site
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