EU parliament to extend new medicine data protection to 7.5 years, document says

EU lawmakers have gone part of the way to meeting pharmaceutical industry concerns about the exclusivity period for new medicines after reaching a compromise on the biggest overhaul of EU pharmaceutical rules in 20 years, a parliament proposal showed. A European parliamentary committee is set to vote on its position on March 19 before a plenary vote on April 11. The legislation, proposed by the European Commission in April last year, aims to slash the time it takes to approve new medicines, incentivise production of medicines for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, improve patient access and "future-proof" the rules to account for technological leaps like artificial intelligence.