The federal government is planning ill-advised changes to the regulations governing the Patented Medicines Price Review Board. The intention is to make drugs in Canada more affordable. But we actually do not have high prices for drugs in Canada, relative to other jurisdictions, and prices have been kept under tight control for years. The actual effect of reducing drug prices will be to make life-saving therapies much harder to access, because they will not be introduced early into Canada. Moreover the proposed changes will make PMPRB procedure much slower and more complex. It is even possible that they will reset in higher prices. They will certainly worsen the environment for innovation in Canada. My paper with Wayne D Critchley on the topic has been published my Macdonald-Laurier Institute and can be found right here.
Intellectual Property and Innovation Law and Policy
Richard C. Owens