Big Pharma turns against TPP

[Panich52]

Big Pharma turns against TPP. The Hill:

“The exact details of the pharmaceutical provision, which involves a class of drugs called biologics, won’t be made public until later this month … pharmaceutical companies could get up to eight years of exclusive rights to their clinical trial data, compared to 12 years currently in place … The U.S. pharmaceutical industry is now in a standoff with the Obama administration, searching for a playbook in its effort to keep Congress from ratifying the deal next year.”

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/lobbying/257386-pharma-flap-imperils-presidents-trade-deal

[joeybee12]

1. No wonder Oral Hatch was having second thoughts...

He really is bought and paid for by Big Pharma, yeah, I know most are, but they really have their claws in him.

[edhopper]

5. my first thought exactly

he's the #1 pharma whore on capitol hill.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. the irony....n/t

[pampango]

3. Interesting that Big Pharma - and Orrin Hatch - were taken by surprise by TPP contents.

“They were supposed to come back with U.S. law on [intellectual property] rights, and they didn’t, and our board is very disappointed,” said Mark Grayson, a spokesman for PhRMA, which represents dozens of top pharmaceutical companies.

The U.S. pharmaceutical industry is now in a standoff with the Obama administration, searching for a playbook in its effort to keep Congress from ratifying the deal next year. Because the deal will be considered in an up-or-down vote, a vote in favor of PhRMA would mean a vote against the entire deal.

As the Obama administration prepares to hand over a copy of the deal to Congress this month, all eyes will turn to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who led the fight this spring to pass the bill giving Obama fast-track trade authority. As Finance Committee chairman, Hatch wields considerable power in approving the deal when it comes up for a vote early next year. But he has been sharply critical of what he has seen, including the pared-down monopoly protections for drug companies.

Since striking the deal last week, the president has personally tried to court the powerhouses of the pharmaceutical industry by inviting a coalition of CEOs to the White House last Thursday. After the executives walked out, they said Obama’s remarks did not break the stalemate.

[jwirr]

4. This is good, right? But what we need to remember is that

good, bad or ugly the only vote we have on this is a yes or a no. So unless the good seriously outweighs the bad we are still going to have to vote no.