A big part of the problem with IP laws and drugs is the interplay between R&D, when you need to file for Patents, when Patent timers start ticking, and the FDA drug approval process.
The entire set up needs revising but it needs to be holistic in approach, and not just "shorten patent times" or anything.
Consider: when does a patent start to tick? For most things it starts from the time of filing the patent. This makes a sense; however, for drugs this leads to a problem, you see, you have to have your patent filed BEFORE you can file for FDA approval for distribution of your new drug. Meanwhile, the FDA approval process can take up to a DECADE for various testing and approvals before the drug can go to market.
So if you set your patent length as a decade or something less than it or even just slightly short of it... well look at that, the company that spent the money on R&D has already lost the patent by the time they can bring the drug to market and is now undercut on cost by a generic drug company.
Remember the core purpose of a patent is to allow the inventor of something to recoup and profit off the time spent researching and developing a product. If you set up your system where they cannot do that, that will stall out R&D in those areas.
The obvious compromise is for patent timers to only start ticking once the drug is approved for distribution by the FDA. The problem with that is that this means that the newest and most effective drugs developed may well be very expensive for a decade before generic drugmakers can come in and lower the price, as the original company has to price their drugs at a price point that covers both the manufacture of the drug now but ALSO to cover the expense of R&D and approval of the drug.
