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President Obama has called for a seven-year protection window, and many lawmakers have pushed for five. AARP also has called for a five-year limit but endorsed a proposal for seven years.

The biotech and pharmaceutical industries argue for a 12-year protection period. They cite the $1.2 billion cost of developing a typical biologic and say a shorter exclusivity period would curtail investment in biotech firms that produce innovative medications.

“A lot of our members say they can’t afford them,” said Nora Super, AARP director of federal government relations for health and long-term care. Making less expensive versions of biologics “could mean the difference between life and death.”

The Federal Trade Commission issued a report recently that said no exclusivity period is needed to bolster the patent protection for biologic drugs partly because the cost of making them is so steep that only the largest companies will participate. An AARP Rx Watchdog report examined the FTC report and listed what it calls seven myths surrounding the debate.

The patient part of the equation

Bill Simcox would welcome more price competition.

Simcox was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. His treatment included Herceptin, a biotechnology drug commonly prescribed for that condition. It cost $5,000 a month.

“I’m barely making enough money to keep my house and buy groceries,” said Simcox, 58, of Port Charlotte, Fla. He stopped taking Herceptin in June because of the cost.

John Daggett, 53, takes Avonex, a biologic, for multiple sclerosis. Daggett, of New York City, is disabled and will start on Medicare this fall. But he’ll quickly fall into the program’s Part D “doughnut hole” for drug coverage. He estimates that his annual spending on Avonex alone, not counting his other prescriptions, will reach $8,000.

For Daggett, Avonex prolongs his ability to live independently by reducing the severity and frequency of the flare-ups of his disease. “It keeps me walking,” he said.

A generic alternative, “would be cheaper for me and the U.S. government,” he said.

Andy Miller is an Atlanta-based freelance writer who specializes in health care issues.

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