21.   Major drug companies stand to lose billions of dollars in sales in the next five years as patents expire and they face generic competition.

22.   Next spring, it expects to face generic competition for Prilosec, the best-selling ulcer treatment, which it sells with AstroZeneca.

23.   Other key products include Tegretol, an epilepsy treatment, and Voltaren, a painkiller and inflammation treatment which lost patent protection last year and faces generic competition.

24.   Other patented drugs without generic competition that have gone over-the-counter actually have ended up costing more.

25.   Patents enable drug companies to market their products, free from generic competition, for a set period of time.

26.   Sachs said that patent holders can be encouraged to offer discounts and to accept generic competition.

27.   That year Congress passed a landmark law, the Hatch-Waxman Act, intended to facilitate generic competition.

28.   The company is hoping the FDA will grant the exclusivity rights that can accompany new drug approvals, and protect a drug from generic competition.

29.   The company said it has had indications the FDA will grant the exclusivity rights that can accompany new drug approvals, and protect a drug from generic competition.

30.   The impact in the U.S. of generic competition to Voltaren, a painkiller, was offset by the introduction of new products.