Star Phoenix Article October 19, 2021
Regulations give dose of protection to drug companies
By Carly Weeks CanWest News Service
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government quietly unveiled
controversial new regulations Wednesday that will extend market protection
for some drugs produced by brand name firms in a move critics predict will
lead to higher costs for consumers and provinces already facing skyrocketing
medicare bills.
The new rules, which took effect earlier this month, increase exclusive selling
rights for all brand name drugs to eight years from five, with an additional
six months of protection granted to drugs involved in pediatric studies.
The change will affect 25 per cent of manufactured drugs — those that
are not protected by the usual 20-year patents that exist on the majority of
pharmaceuticals.
That means major pharmaceutical companies that produce brand name drugs will
have, for eight years, exclusive right to sell certain products before generic
companies — which sell cheaper versions of brand name goods — can
step in.
The move is a “gift” to major pharmaceutical corporations and will
result in dramatically higher drug costs for Canadians, said New Democratic
Party health critic and former British Columbia health minister Penny Priddy.
“I just think that this is the betrayal of Canadian citizens and will deny
them access to drugs longer,” Priddy said. “I think it puts the health
of Canadians at risk.”
“Why the Canadian government would feel it necessary to grant brand name
drug companies eight years of data protection in Canada is beyond us,” said
Jeff Connell, director of public affairs for the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical
Association.
If the changes had been in effect over the last five years, it would have meant
an additional $600 million in drug costs and blocked companies from producing
generic versions of about 20 drugs, including Zoloft, Pravachol, Wellbutrin
and Celexa, he said.
“It will delay the introduction of some generic drugs,” Connell said. “They
(companies) automatically get eight years of government-sanctioned and enforced
market monopoly.”
However, the association representing Canada’s research-based pharmaceutical
companies said the regulatory changes will serve to put Canada in line with
other countries and will be an incentive for companies to produce new and innovative
drugs here.
“I think this is an important step in bringing in new medicines, innovative
new medicines for patients and it will help Canada become much more competitive
on the global scene,” said Russell Williams, the president of Canada’s
Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies.
The changes were first proposed by the former Liberal government in December
2004, but were not finalized and put into effect until two weeks ago.
Health Minister Tony Clement said in a statement the new rules will make it
easier for cheaper generic versions of brand name drugs to enter the market
in a “timely fashion” by setting out clear, enforceable guidelines
for market protection rules.
But Priddy said the changes cater to the interests of big pharmaceutical companies
and will limit the access Canadians have to cheap, affordable generic drugs.
“I think that it is a huge gift to pharmaceutical companies and I think
it is a huge takeaway for Canadian citizens. It is going to do huge harm,” Priddy
said. “This is really quite appalling.”
The changes will only add to an already dangerous situation in which drug prices
are rising and major pharmaceutical companies control the agenda, said Dr.
Gordon Guyatt, spokesperson for the Medical Reform Group of Ontario, a nonprofit
association of physicians.
“It will be harmful to the extent that it delays the genericization and,
as a result, keep prices inflated for a longer period of time,” he said. “It
appears to be more pandering to an already extremely profitable industry.”