US CONGRESS SET TO EXTEND MONOPOLY PATENTS FOR CIPRO AND OTHER TOP-SELLING DRUGS

While the Bush administration claimed to negotiate a tough deal for a government stockpile of Cipro, a drug industry
lobbying campaign has pushed Congress to quietly pass legislation that will give a six-month monopoly patent
extension to Cipro and more than 100 other drugs, according to a new Public Citizen study. The patent extension
legislation, which passed the Senate on Oct. 18 and will be voted on by the House of Representatives as early
Monday, Nov. 12, is based on this premise: If drug companies test their products for safety in children, they should
receive a six-month patent extension.

The costs of the safety and efficacy tests sought by pediatricians, children's advocates and the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) is estimated at $727 million, according to Public Citizen's report, Patently Offensive. The reward, in
terms of added sales, to patent-holding drug companies is $29.6 billion, according to the FDA -- a return 40 times the
industry's projected investment in pediatric tests. Cipro's maker, Bayer, would garner an extra $358 million in sales due
to the anthrax-fighting drug's patent extension, according to the report.

"The drug industry has put on a cynical PR front about its patriotic efforts to fight bioterrorism," said Frank Clemente,
director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch. "Meanwhile, it has refused to sacrifice a penny -- not even for children's
health -- in its uncontrolled drive for monopoly patent extensions and sky-high profits." Public Citizen believes that
pediatric tests should be required as part of the FDA's drug approval process with no special financial incentive. The
federal government doesn't give drug companies monopoly patent extensions to test their products in other consumer
populations such as women or African-Americans.

Public Citizen's report found that Bayer, the exclusive manufacturer of Cipro, lobbied for the patent-extension legislation
and spent $3.7 million on campaign contributions and lobbying since 1999. A six-month patent extension for Cipro
would pay for all of Bayer's contributions and lobbying since 1999 in just two days. So-called "children's groups" have
played a crucial role in helping to pass the patent extension legislation. The Coalition for Children's Health, which touts
itself as the "leading coalition in Washington on children's health policy," is financially supported by the drug industry,
chaired by a former drug industry lobbyist, and composed of several groups financially supported by the drug industry.

Copyright: CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER, Washington D.C., USA


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