The first lower-cost versions of biotechnology drugs, expensive medications that have never before faced generic competition in the U.S, will soon be under review by the Food and Drug Administration.

The guidelines issued by the FDA follow a decades-long effort to lower the price of biotech drugs. The high-tech injectable therapies cost the nation billions of dollars each year.

Since their introduction in the 1980s, biotech drugs have not faced generic competition because the FDA did not have power to approve copies of the medications, which are often made with living cells, rather than by mixing chemicals together.

That changed with the Obama administration's 2010 health overhaul, which ordered the FDA to create a system for approving "biosimilar drugs." That industry term acknowledges the difficulty of producing exact copies of biotech drugs.

Norovirus may be behind the outbreak of sickness at a New Jersey college. According to NBC Philadelphia, about 40 students from Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J. were taken to the hospital Wednesday night after experiencing gastrointestinal illness. The cases echo those of students at nearby Princeton University.

Students were taken to area hospitals for treatment while local health officials attempted to find the source of the outbreak. Most of the students have since returned to campus, Philly.com said.

Health officials told reporters they believe norovirus could be the cause of the students’ illnesses. Rider University officials released a statement saying they are “coordinating treatment information” with Princeton, and have informed neighboring institutions of the outbreak.

Norovirus first broke out on Princeton campus last week, and has also been implicated in recent mass breakouts of similar gastrointestinal illnesses on cruise ships.

Rider said it is working with its food and custodial services to sanitize residence hall bathrooms and cafeterias.

Norovirus causes diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and cramping, NBC said. Symptoms also include fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and fatigue. The virus is not serious, and usually passes within one or two days. It is spread through touching surfaces contaminated with the virus, or eating foods and liquids that have touched the surface.