TPP Threatens Access to Affordable Medications for People Around the World

This week marks a crucial moment for consumers around the world who depend on affordable medicines to stay healthy and treat debilitating conditions. Negotiators from a dozen countries -- representing 800 million people -- are meeting in Hawaii to potentially finalize the terms of the massive trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Unfortunately, the current draft of the agreement benefits the brand drug industry at the expense of those who most need access to affordable medicines, including America's seniors. As leaders in the fight to bring safe and lower-cost medications to Americans and the global community, AARP and GPhA have serious concerns that the draft agreement's intellectual property provisions threaten to dramatically restrict access to affordable generic drugs and biosimilar medicines by delaying or preventing their entry into the market in various ways. As it stands, TPP runs counter to the dramatic progress that we have made in the United States in making pharmaceuticals more accessible to consumers. In 1984, Congress passed the Hatch-Waxman Amendments which struck a careful balance designed both to encourage innovation and to promote competition in the drug industry. Brand name drug companies were given incentives to develop innovative new drugs, while generic drug companies were allowed to challenge weak patents and take their products to market, bringing down prices for everyone. That balance has served Americans well, particular...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news