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The State of California has amassed $4.8 Billion in unclaimed money owed to citizens. With no statute of limitations on claiming money and minimal state outreach to account owners, approximately $900 million in unclaimed money funds is

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

added annually. The State currently spends the unclaimed money by depositing it into the States General Fund. Citizens need to be informed of money owed to them and take what is rightfully theirs.

In April 2006 State Controller, Steve Wesl

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

ey, stated, “The Governor and Legislature are using unclaimed property to cope with the State budget mess they created through gridlock and mismanagement. This must stop”. Currently the state pays out about $250 million annually

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

in found property claims and the rest is put in the general fund and spent as if it were the States money.

In an attempt to better the States unclaimed money system, Wesley sponsored a Bill, SB 1752, which would have removed severe restricti

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

ns on the State’s ability to find account owners. The Bill would have also separated the unclaimed money into its own account, instead of the General Fund, and earned interest for the account owners. Wesley added, “I sponsored this bill to c

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

hange the system and take California’s unclaimed property away from the politicians and return it to the people. Forgotten checking accounts should not be used to plug holes in the State budget.”

Since the Bill’s creation in April 2006 the Bi

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

ll, SB 1752, the bill is being held in committee. If the legislature adjourns at the end of the month without taking action on the bill, it will be dead.

Through Wesley’s efforts the State has increased the unclaimed money returns for the la

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

st 3 years. In 2004 $177.4 million was returned, 2005 $238.5 million, and in 2006 $292 million. Even though there has been an increase in annual returns of found property the unclaimed money balance is still growing $500 million annually aft

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

r paying out claims! At this rate the total lost funds will be $10 billion in the next 10 years. Minimal efforts by the State are not enough to reach the nearly 8 million unclaimed money account owners.

Sites are being established that adve

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

rtise to account owners not only in California, but nation wide. This private advertisement has added to the increase in found property claims.

Nationally there is over $25 Billion in lost funds.

Most people have put a deposit down f

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

or a gas, electric account at some time. People move and forget about the deposit but the money is theirs and electric company doesn’t know where to send it. The money is placed in state’s treasury department fund for unclaimed property. T

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

his is one of hundreds of places missing money may come from. Found property may consist of savings or checking accounts, stocks, mutual funds, dividends, IRS refunds, wages, child support payments, the list goes on.

One inefficiency in havi

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

g a state operated missing money database is a person who searches the database will only find money reported in that state. Also, the states are limited on what they can do to reach account owners and do not have a budget to advertise to the

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

public and notify them of the ever-growing lost money funds.

Even if a person has only lived in one state they may have money in other states databases. An insurance company in New York that owed someone money on a policy may place the uncl

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

aimed money in the state of New York’s database, regardless of the state of residency of the beneficiary. Also, the unclaimed property may be listed under possible name variations (William Smith may be listed as W. Smith or Bill Smith). The

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

government has not created a single database to search for unclaimed money.

To fill the inefficiencies of the States all in one databases have been created. Searching in a quality, database will search all state and federal databases, all p

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

ssible name variations and provide the instructions and forms for submitting a claim once money has been found. These sites also spend a great deal advertising to the public informing them of the high likelihood they, or someone in their imme

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

diate family, is owed money.

The reason the national amount of unclaimed money is growing billions year after year is people are not searching to see if any is owed to them. It may be money that was forgotten about or an inheritance t

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

he person never knew existed. People will never know until they look. A simple search may mean a check in the mailbox.

Cashunclaimed.com is the largest unclaimed money database, including all state and federal databases. CashUnclaimed.com w

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

as founded to assist owners in easily locating and claiming their lost funds. The site offers more information on unclaimed money and free unclaimed money search at www.cashunclaimed.com

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

Solution of a problem or a challenge is always a product in the society. The means or the way of solving the problem or challenge tomorrow will turn into a new unique product to share with others who are facing the same problem I face today.

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