The stakes are highest in pharmaceuticals, where industry groups are seeking new regulations to limit competition from generic drugmakers, including extended patent terms and longer terms of exclusivity for a class of drugs called biologics. Critics say this will lead to higher prices, depriving millions of patients of access to lifesaving medicines. But defenders predict that drug companies will plow their profits into research and development, creating new drugs that will benefit everyone in the long run.
Little in the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal has generated more controversy than the chapter on intellectual property -- and for good reason. The stakes in this chapter are literally life and death.
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