Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Lobbying against biogenerics

What did BIO, Genentech, Biogen Idec and other biotech drugmakers spend money on last quarter? Lobbying, of course. BIO, the industry's advocacy group, spent $1.9 million lobbying Congress on a variety of issues, including patent reform, stem cells, reimbursement and biogenerics. The lack of generic drug competition has been a major boon for biotech companies since they don't have to worry about patent expiration and generic competition the way pharmaceutical companies do. But that may be changing. With a new President headed for the White House, the previously-stalled efforts to create a faster biogeneric approval pathway will probably be revived. Biotech drugs are generally far more expensive than pharmaceuticals, which won't escape the notice of an administration focused on cutting high healthcare costs. The biotech industry is hoping for the best--but preparing for the worst.
For example, Genentech and Biogen Idec forked over $570,000 and $180,000 respectively in Q3 lobbying against biogeneric drugs. And last week, we reported that Amgen and Amylin Pharmaceuticals spent big bucks on the same issue. As the calls for healthcare reform heat up, so will Biotech's efforts to prevent generic competition that has caused many a headache for pharma execs.

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