Time to consider longer patent terms, says Medicines Australia

A new federal government review of Australia’s patent system, announced yesterday, should consider the compelling case to extend the patent life of innovative medicines, said Brendan Shaw, chief executive of pharma trade group Medicines Australia.

Responding to the announcement by the Parliamentary Secretary for Industry & Innovation, Mark Dreyfus, Dr Shaw said extensions to the patent life for health technologies like pharmaceuticals was important because the regulatory and reimbursement processes consume years of patent life.

“We look forward to contributing to this review because there is a growing argument that patent terms in Australia are too short,” Dr Shaw said, adding: “Given it takes as long as three years to get a new medicine listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and rejection rates by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee are increasing, it’s timely to look at whether patent terms are long enough. These patent extensions are important for Australian technology companies.”