For Noelle Sunstrom, the reason US drug makers pushed so hard for protection in the historic Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement is obvious: companies like hers are their worst nightmare. 
"The biologic drugs take a long time to discover," she said. "Their development takes a lot longer than small molecules - or the pills that you pop.
"That's probably why they are pushing to have a longer period to make money on the market."
Ms Sunstrom's Sydney-based company Neuclone creates biosimilars. Just like traditional drugs must compete against generic versions when their patents end, biologic drugs, which are derived from organic matter like vaccines, anti-toxins and antibodies, must compete against biosimilars.
In partnership with the world's largest vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India, Neuclone aims to create 10 biosimilar drugs over the next five years. It has already created a monoclonal antibody that mimics breast cancer drug Herceptin, originally created by Genentech, and another that mimics Humira, which was originally made by AbbVie as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
In Australia a year-long course of Herceptin, which is listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, costs $50,000. Biosimilar treatments are often at least 30 per cent cheaper, Ms Sunstrom says.
Clinical trials of Neuclone's first two biosimilar agents will kick off in Australia in 2017.
As part of the TPP talks the US pushed for 12 years of data exclusivity on biologic drugs. It dropped the period to eight years, which almost threatened to derail the pact because Australia wanted five. In the end the US met Australia's demands.
Because biosimilars do not exactly imitate the originals, patents are less effective. This is why they are protected by data exclusivity, which prevents generic companies from relying on data published by the original drug company in scientific journals.
Ms Sunstrom said there was a "massive" opportunity for biosimilar drugs. "The market is worth, right now, about $20 billion, however it will just increase with the number of these highly successful drugs coming off patent."
Biologics are among the most expensive drugs in the world. Remicade, for rheumatoid arthritis, costs about $US2500 an injection and makes more than $US8 billion a year for Janssen, Merck and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma. However a South Korean firm Celltrion recently received approval in Europe to sell its Remicade biosimilar, for 69 per cent less than Merck's price.