What might have been in patent reform?

In a post titled --Patent reforms can shift research --, one has the text:

Congress has a unique opportunity to help the millions of Americans afflicted by neglected diseases. The Patent Reform Act, now being considered in the Senate, could rework the national patent system to encourage breakthrough treatments for many chronic conditions that too often go unaddressed by drug makers.

Currently, some federal lawmakers are pushing for broad "reforms” to either lengthen or shorten patents across the board. [IPBiz: huh?] This one-size-fits-all approach gives little consideration to how such changes to patent law impact medical research and wastes a significant opportunity. This is the wrong approach.

History shows that strengthening patents in a strategic and targeted way is essential in the fight against disease.

(...)

With the Patent Reform Act, Congress can strategically alter patent law to direct research into areas that have not been a priority for the pharmaceutical industry. It should seize this opportunity to modify patents to improve the health of millions suffering from neglected diseases.


IPBiz notes that S.1145 and patent reform are gone for 2008. The particular issues in the above post were not on the agenda.