7.18.2007

ARE WE READY FOR GENERIC BIOTECH? / Safety concerns -- and enormous profits -- at issue as industry braces for copycat drugs

ARE WE READY FOR GENERIC BIOTECH? / Safety concerns -- and enormous profits -- at issue as industry braces for copycat drugs: "Biotech advocates maintain that copycat biological drugs can never really be identical to the brand-name drug. Biotech drugs are produced by bacterial or mammalian cells that have been genetically engineered to make the needed molecule. Manufacturers of generics don't have access to those proprietary cell lines or the recipes for the nutrient broths in which they grow, said Rob Garnick, a veteran Genentech executive who oversees manufacturing quality control."