Contingent assets — unquantifiable

Defence

Non remote contingent assets

The Department of Defence has 17 instances of unquantifiable non‑remote contingent assets.

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. The first generic version of this medicine was listed in 2010 and the first price disclosure‑based reduction occurred in 2012. Listing a generic form of clopidogrel on the Australian market earlier than 2010 would have triggered an automatic reduction to the price paid by the Government for clopidogrel through the PBS and would have resulted in further price disclosure reductions.

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. The first generic version of this medicine was listed in 2012 and the first price disclosure‑based reduction occurred in 2013. Listing a generic form of venlafaxine on the Australian market earlier than 2012 would have triggered an automatic reduction to the price paid by the Government for venlafaxine through the PBS and have resulted in further price disclosure‑based reductions.

Industry, Innovation and Science

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 one defendant. The patents cover CSIRO's invention of a wireless local area network. CSIRO expects to receive additional revenue which would exceed the associated legal costs.

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