Government protects the patents of companies
The Senate recently examined an important issue for all drug companies that own patented branded specialties. It did so, during the Budget law process, by rejecting an amendment which provided for the granting of the Marketing Authorization for an equivalent medicinal product, only after the presentation of a certification from the Italian Patent and Trademark Office which validated the expiry of the patent coverage of the original product. A measure that would be absolutely necessary to establish the expiry date in a certain and independent manner, starting from which it is possible to market equivalent medicines and at the same time avoid unfair competition from the companies holding the patent, which have supported its Research and Development. For this reason, Farmindustria requests that the Institutions return to the point shortly to identify suitable solutions that do not penalize the investments of the pharmaceutical industry with forms of competition on the market that do not respect intellectual property. The brand and the patent represent fundamental institutes for pharmacological innovation. In fact, without their rigorous protection it is not possible to amortize the very high costs of researching a drug, which sometimes exceed one billion euros. It is therefore necessary to establish transparent rules that allow companies to continue conducting research to improve the efficacy and tolerability of medicines, offering citizens new hopes of treatment. From farmindustria.it 15-11-07
