http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2009/08/06/protecting-americas-leadership-in-biotech-discovery/ Business + Technology in the Exponential Economy Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:54:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2009/08/06/protecting-americas-leadership-in-biotech-discovery/comment-page-1/#comment-75494 Cornelius Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:38:02 +0000 http://www.xconomy.com/?p=36522#comment-75494 Amgen has not invented a drug in years- they bought all their pipeline. Thus they cannot speak on biotech innovation. They just want to protect their monopoly. The author conveniently does not say that Amgens original drugs have mutations from batch to batch, and indeed the original drug that got approved is not exactly the same as is what is sold today. However, they have the same efficacy and side-effect profile, and that is what matters. Thus a biogeneric will be just as good as the original. He also neglects to mention that it takes LESS time to bring a biologic to market- they are usually for niche indications, later expanded, that go under the orphan drug act, allowing compassionate use, faster approval times, etc. Finally, 5 years exclusivity has provided plenty of incentive for small molecules companies to innovate- if you want to increase such innovation find a path for the biotech IPO market to innovate. That will provide plenty of motivation, and more importantly cash, to start new companies. Amgen has not invented a drug in years- they bought all their pipeline. Thus they cannot speak on biotech innovation. They just want to protect their monopoly.
The author conveniently does not say that Amgens original drugs have mutations from batch to batch, and indeed the original drug
that got approved is not exactly the same as is what is sold today. However, they have the same efficacy and side-effect profile, and that is what matters. Thus a biogeneric will be just as good as the original. He also neglects to mention that it takes LESS time to bring a biologic to market- they are usually for niche indications, later expanded, that go under the orphan drug act, allowing compassionate use, faster approval times, etc. Finally, 5 years exclusivity has provided plenty of incentive for small molecules companies to innovate- if you want to increase such innovation find a path for the biotech IPO market to innovate. That will provide plenty of motivation, and more importantly cash, to start new companies.

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