Congressional leaders have 4 reasons why TPP is bad for generic access

WASHINGTON — Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., spoke out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is being negotiated later this month, because of its propensity to restrict access to generic medicines. 

 

"[The TPP] has the effect of keeping cheaper generic drugs out of the market," DeLauro said. "That's less competition for big pharma, increased cost for Medicare and Medicaid, higher prices for families who are buying medicines and health insurance," she said. "And what an incredibly devastating effect on seniors, who are already facing a disproportionately high medical bill."

 

The danger that TPP poses to pharmaceutical access was highighted by the leaked Intellectual Property chapter of the TPP. https://wikileaks.org/tpp/ According to Reps. DeLauro and Schakowsky, the leak revealed substantial concerns that the Administration may have bowed to pressure from the branded pharmaceutical industry over the course of negotiations. Both DeLauro and Schakowsky have reviewed the secret TPP document, the Congress leaders said, but are restricted from commenting directly on its contents. 

 

"While I can't comment on the specifics of what I read, what is clear is that it is U.S. negotiators who are pushing to tilt the balance between intellectual property rights and public health even more toward the brand name drug companies," Schakowsky said. 

 

TPP negotiators are meeting later this month in Maui, Hawaii, Schakowsky said. It may be our last chance to put a stop to this, she said. 

 

"What TPP is doing now is setting a precedent that effectively can't be rolled back in the future," noted Brian Honermann, senior research advisor for amfAR, participated in the press call. "They will become the defacto international standard that will be built on in future trade agreements."

 

Schakowsky outlined four problems with TPP. 

 

First, there is the expanded use of evergreens, allowing patent-holders through successive patents to obtain longer periods of exclusivity. Second, there is the 12-year exclusivity period for biologics. Schakowsky supports a seven-year period of exclusivity. Third, changes to the approval process and access to data exclusivity that would delay access to generics. And lastly, a dispute system that would allow foreign companies and foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies to challenge federal and state laws designed to lower drug prices. "As a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, I can't support a trade deal that would raise the cost of drug prices to my constituents and tie my hands in pushing for policies that would lower them," she said. 

 

"As it stands now, TPP will make it harder for the U.S. generic industry to sell its products overseas," noted Ralph Neas, president and CEO of the Generic Pharmaceutials Association, in a statement released last month. "That is because the intellectual property provisions in TPP are designed to give longer protection to patented drugs and postpone the entry of cost-saving generic medicines."