WASHINGTON — Senators agreed Monday to give high-tech biologic drugs 12 years of market protection before generic versions can compete.

The vote in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was a victory for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries but a defeat for the Obama administration and AARP.

The Obama administration had pushed for a seven-year exclusivity period so patients could get quicker access to cheaper versions of costly medicines used to treat ailments including cancer, Parkinson's, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

Proponents of the longer time frame say products like the blockbuster cancer drug Avastin deserve longer market protection because they are more expensive and time-consuming to produce than regular drugs, and the extra time and money is needed to attract investors and promote innovation.

The vote came as the health committee worked to complete a sweeping health overhaul bill it expects to finish today. The biotech drug portion was a major unresolved issue, but Monday's action doesn't mean it's over. The decision would still need agreement from the full Senate and the House, where Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., strongly supporters a shorter exclusivity period.

Biotech drugs currently don't face generic competition because the Food and Drug Administration doesn't have power to approve copies of such medications. Efforts to change that have been held up for nearly a decade by squabbling between the biotech and generic drug industries and their allies on Capitol Hill.

ROUND ROCK, Texas — PC maker Dell said Monday it expects its fiscal second-quarter revenue to be slightly higher than in the first quarter, when sales plunged 23 percent to $12.3 billion.Dell's second quarter ends July 31. In a statement, the Round Rock-based company also said demand for its computers, servers and other technology "appears to have stabilized."Its revenue in last year's fiscal second quarter totaled $16.4 billion. A decline similar to what Dell saw in its first quarter would result in current-quarter sales of about $12.8 billion.Wall Street already expects Dell to top first-quarter revenue, though just barely. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters predict Dell will report $12.5 billion in sales for the second quarter.Dell, the No. 2 PC maker in the world behind Hewlett-Packard, didn't go so far as to declare the end of the computer-industry slump, and said demand still varies significantly by product and region.