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Australian Government Coat of Arms

Budget | 2014-15

Budget 2014-15
Australian Government Coat of Arms, Budget 2014-15
  1. budget.gov.au
  2. 2014‑15
  3. Budget Paper No. 1
  4. Statement 8
  5. Contingent assets — unquantifiable

Statement 8 (continued)

Contingent assets — unquantifiable

Defence

Defence non‑remote contingent assets

The Department of Defence has four instances of contingent assets that are unquantifiable.

Health

Legal action seeking compensation from Sanofi

The Department of Health has initiated legal action to seek compensation from Sanofi, the original patent owner of clopidogrel (Plavix®), for additional costs to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) resulting from a delay in listing a generic version of clopidogrel. Listing a generic form of clopidogrel on the Australian market in 2008 would have triggered an automatic reduction to the price paid by the Government for clopidogrel through the PBS and is likely to have resulted in a Price Disclosure reduction in 2010. The first generic version of this medicine was listed in 2010 and the first Price Disclosure reduction occurred in 2012.

Legal action seeking compensation from Wyeth

The Department of Health has initiated legal action to seek compensation from Wyeth, the original patent owner of venlafaxine (Efexor®), for additional costs to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) resulting from a delay in listing a generic version of venlafaxine. Listing a generic form of venlafaxine on the Australian market in 2009 would have triggered an automatic reduction to the price paid by the Government for venlafaxine through the PBS. The first generic version of this medicine was listed in 2012.

Industry

Wireless Local Area Network

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has ongoing patent infringement proceedings in the United States of America and Europe against multiple defendants. The patents cover CSIRO's invention of a wireless local area network (WLAN). CSIRO expects to receive additional revenue which would exceed the associated legal costs.