Trade Agreement
On January 16, 2020 the U.S. and China finalized the trade agreement that specifies the patent protection rules for drugs. Under the patent protection, biopharmaceutical companies can fill out an application and the term of each new patent is 20 years. Once the application have been approved, drug companies are able to manufacture, market, and selling the products before other companies can get their hands on the replica version. The patent protection can block or stop the production of any medicinal replica that is similar to the drug’s company. Patent protection rules are important to all biopharmaceutical companies because it prevents other inventors to steal or sell the company’s invention. For example, the agreement can protect branded drugs from its generic competition only if they are under the patent protection. The trade agreement does not specify how long the drugs will be protected for, but it is possible to receive patent extension if there is a delay during the approval process.
References
Decker, S., & Lyu, D. (2020, January 15). China Agrees to Tweaks on Drug Patents as Part of Trade Deal. Retrieved February 5, 2020, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-15/china-agrees-to-changes-on-drug-patents-as-part-of-trade-deal
Economic and Trade Agreement Between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the United States of America (Pharmaceutical-Related Part). (2020, January 16). Retrieved February 5, 2020, from https://www.accestra.com/2020/01/16/economic-and-trade-agreement-between-the-government-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china-and-the-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-pharmaceutical-related-part/
Owens, C. (2020, January 16). U.S.-China trade deal contains a win for Big Pharma. Retrieved February 5, 2020, from https://www.axios.com/us-china-trade-deal-could-be-good-for-big-pharma-be017e4d-8bb2-4d40-9e1d-9e274f396ce5.html
Today, C. B. (2020, January 17). US-China Trade Agreement Specifies Patent Protection Rules for Drugs. Retrieved February 5, 2020, from http://www.chinabiotoday.com/articles/china-us-trade-agreement