GPhA's annual policy conf hears from US presidential campaigns

The 2008 Annual Policy Conference of the US Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) held in Washington DC has received messages of support concerning speeding up the approval of off-patent biotechnology drugs from representatives of both leading presidential candidates. Health policy advisers to both Senators John McCain (Republican, Arizona) and Barack Obama (Democrat, Illinois) stated their support for increasing access to generic medicines and the need for a Food and Drug Administration approval pathway for biogenerics.

Kathleen Jaeger, the GPhA's president, said: "our two presidential candidates understand the true value that generic medicines play in our nation's health care system." She added that "both parties are talking about increasing access to affordable generic - and biogeneric - medicines. And that's music not only to our ears, but to countless patients across the country."

Both representatives for the presidential candidates, Douglas Holtz-Eakin (McCain) and Dora Hughes (Obama), stated that "Sens McCain and Obama would want to see as short a market exclusivity period as possible in order to get affordable biogenerics to market," the GPhA said. The Biotechnology Industry Organization and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), support 14 years of market exclusivity.