Getty U.S. officials optimistic they will close giant trade deal

ATLANTA — Talks aimed at concluding a landmark 12-nation trade pact were continuing through the night Saturday as negotiators attempted to break a deadlock over the length of monopoly protections for a new class of cutting-edge medicines — among the last issues holding up a key part of President Barack Obama’s economic legacy.

After extending their stay for a fifth day, U.S. officials said they remain optimistic they can clinch a deal Sunday.


“Progress has been made, but negotiations are still ongoing,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is running for reelection this month, told reporters during a campaign stop in Montreal on Saturday.

But the intense focus on intellectual property rights issues appears to be delaying negotiations in other areas, such as market access for dairy exports, said industry representatives at the talks.

Japan was exhorting U.S. officials to compromise on those protections, which have become a major obstacle to wrapping up a deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership considered key to President Barack Obama’s legacy. Japan's minister for the TPP, Akira Amari, said he did not know when ministers could meet again if a deal is not reached in Atlanta, where talks have already stretched into their eighth day.

U.S. negotiators had hoped to win 12 years of market exclusivity for the new class of drugs made from living organisms, the same as under current U.S. law. They now appear willing to take somewhere between five and eight years of protection in the face of concerns from Australia and other countries about escalating health care costs. Longer protections delay the introduction of more affordable versions of the drugs, known as biosimilars.

U.S. and Australian officials continued to exchange proposals on the drug protection issue in the hopes of finding a compromise the 12 countries could sell to their legislatures.

Currently, Mexico, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei provide zero years of exclusivity for biologics. Chile, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore provide five years and Japan and Canada provide eight. Developing countries are expected to be given additional time to implement any more stringent commitments.

Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah has stood fast on his demand for strong protections for the new drugs. But many Democrats and health advocates protest the long timeframe would put important medications out of reach of many people in poorer nations.