Israeli MoH Opposes Patent Extension

Israel's Ministry of Health has declared its opposition to proposals to extend patent protection from 20 years, and also to a change in the definition of "exploiting the innovation" in the Patent Laws, to prohibit research and preparation for production of patented drugs during their period of protection.

The MoH has told a meeting of the Gabai Committee, which is examining proposals to amend the Patent Laws, that these changes would increase prices and produce financial problems for the sick funds, with a direct impact on costs to the insured and the level of services provided. Also, it says, extending patent protection could hinder attempts to find ways of reducing drug costs to the public.

The MoH statement is welcomed by the funds and local generics firms, but is of concern to multinational research-based companies with products which have only a few years of meaningful sales, such as Eli Lilly's Prozac (fluoxetine) whose Israeli patent expires soon. Although this drug is much in demand, it has yet to reach its potential because of reimbursement curbs on prescribing and negative listing for higher than usual copayment. It has also been the subject of a patent infringement claim by Lilly against Teva.