UPDATE: Delays to US patent reform and biogenerics

The US patent reform process is set for a deadlock with the Republican-controlled federal administration now opposing proposals introduced by the Democrat-dominated Senate. Essentially, the changes would favor the interests of software companies and the financial sector, with research-based drugmakers being more vulnerable to patent challenges and finding it harder to secure intellectual property rights in the first place (Marketletters passim).

According to Lehman Brothers analysts, the patent reform legislation is likely to be debated in the Senate this month, although hardening opposition from the Administration makes passage of the proposals "questionable."

Biogenerics make progress, slowly