Biotech Values

[biocqr]

French plan to push copycat biotech drugs worries Big Pharma

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/10/us-pharmaceuticals-france-biosimilars-idUSBREA390T920140410

(Reuters) - France is going out on a limb with a plan to push the use of cheap copies of biotech drugs, triggering alarm among companies in Europe's second-biggest pharmaceutical market behind Germany.

The government quietly introduced the measure allowing pharmacists to substitute prescribed brand-name biotech drugs with cheaper, similar versions in its 2014 healthcare budget.

The move, which still needs a decree to come into effect, could cut the cost of providing complex biological medicines to patients with conditions like cancer, kidney disease and rheumatoid arthritis. But it poses a threat to makers of original products that are particularly reliant on sales of such drugs, such as Roche and Amgen.

Copying biotech drugs is set to grow as more patents expire or are successfully challenged, as in the case of Roche's breast cancer drug Herceptin, which had two UK patents revoked after a challenge by Hospira on Thursday.

France is the first European country to pursue biologic substitution, and governments across the continent, grappling with rising healthcare costs, may be tempted to follow if the measure is a success.