US bipartisan trade deal "threat" to pharma

In a bid to ensure the support of the Democratic party-controlled Congress, the USA's Republican administration is considering the sacrifice of drug industry-friendly provisions of bilateral trade deals between the USA and other nations, according to The Hill, the Congress' newspaper. Changes to future free trade treaties demanded by Charles Rangel (Democrat, New York), Chairman of the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, would lessen intellectual property rights protections, compared with those enacted by the previous Republican majority (Marketletters passim).

The new shift away from supporting the interests of research-based drugmakers comes at a time when several countries are exploiting loopholes in the World Trade Organization's IPR rules. Stephanie Burgos, a policy advisor for the global activist group, Oxfam, said: "we'd see that as an improvement."

A major sticking point is in the issue of data exclusivity rules which, in the case of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, prevent generic drug firms from utilizing clinical trial data for five years. Under WTO standards, this period would be shortened.