But most biologics also have a flaw.

但是多数生物药品都有一个缺陷。

And in general, biologics are great, because they avoid several ways that drugs can cause side effects.

一般来说，生物药品很好，因为它们能避免若干药物引发的副作用。

Compared to small molecule drugs, and by this I mean regular drugs, like aspirin, biologics are quite large.

相比起小分子药物，这里我指的是阿司匹林之类的常规药物，生物药品分子挺大的。

Another side-bar: the Hatch-Waxman Act does not apply to biologics, or medications made from a living organism and its products.

《哈奇-韦克斯曼法案》不适用于生物制品，或通过活的有机体及其产品制成的药物。

Newer therapies called biologics can also be useful, because they block the actions of cytokines like tumor necrosis factor alpha and the interleukins.

生物制剂治疗这种新疗法同样有效，能阻断TNF-α和IL-1等细胞因子的作用。

So, here is the bottom line: because of these laws, patients who require new drugs or biologics that are still under protection must pay the market price in the US.

因此，基本情况是这样的：由于这些法律的存在，需要新药或生物制剂的病人必须支付它们在美国的市场价格。

This leads us to the million (or really trillion dollar) question: Why are brand-name drugs and biologics more expensive within the U.S. than they are in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and a host of other European nations?

这就带来了一个价值百万美元(或者万亿美元)的问题：为什么名牌药品和生物制品在美国比在澳大利亚、加拿大、新西兰和许多其他欧洲国家贵？