Supreme Court speeds copycat biologic drugs to market

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cut the time it will take for copycat versions of biologic drugs to get to the market in a pivotal ruling about an expensive class of medicines that can yield billions of dollars in sales for drug companies.

The justices, in a 9-0 ruling, overturned a lower court's decision that had prevented Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG (NOVN.S) from selling its copycat version of California-based Amgen Inc's (AMGN.O) Neupogen until six months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it.

The decision has major implications for the pharmaceutical industry because it will dictate how long brand-name makers of biologic drugs can keep near-copies, called biosimilars, off the market. Even the six months at issue in the case can mean hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.

Health insurers expect biosimilars to be cheaper than original brands, like generics, saving consumers billions of dollars each year.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-biologics-idUSKBN1931OF

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SUPREME COURT | Mon Jun 12, 2017 | 12:04pm EDT
By Andrew Chung | WASHINGTON

[Thinkingabout]

1. The cost of drugs needs to be reduced, the big pharma is paying off Congressional Members to

keep their game going.

[vkkv]

2. Sounds good to me!

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. 9-0...that is very telling.

Would hope same vote on similar issues.

[DeminPennswoods]

4. Yes

I'd have expected the corporately-owned justices Alito and Gorsuch to have voted no. OTOH, maybe Scalia had a lot more influence on opinions behind the scenes than many of us believed or thought. Now that he's gone, perhaps a bit more critical thinking is taking place by the court's right wing.