Oct. 7 at 9:22 AM
$SGMO
Just something I've wondered about. A gene therapy should have much longer patent protection/ exclusivity, because it's much harder to produce a so called generic version, if not near imposible even actually?
Ran Chat GPT on this.
Yes — gene therapies are much harder to make a generic (or “biosimilar”) version of compared to traditional small-molecule drugs. Here’s why:
🧬 1. Complexity of the Product
Small-molecule drugs (like aspirin or statins) are chemically simple and can be exactly replicated. Generic manufacturers just need to prove their version is chemically identical.
Gene therapies, on the other hand, involve large, biologically active molecules (e.g., viral vectors carrying genetic payloads). These are produced in living cells, so it’s virtually impossible to make an exact copy — only something “highly similar.”