Healthy Skepticism Library item: 1047

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Publication type: news

McGregor G.
MPs to probe drug rule that limits competition
Ottawa Citizen / Canada.Com 2003 Apr 11

Full text:

After shelving a planned study of Canada’s drug patent laws, the House
of Commons industry committee has reversed its field and decided to
review the use of “evergreening” tactics that keep lower-priced generic
drugs off the market.
The Liberal-dominated committee last week voted to put off its
examination of the patent rules until late June, likely after the end of
the current session. Two Liberal MPs voted with the Opposition to
scuttle a motion by Liberal MP Dan McTeague to address the subject
sooner.
But that decision drew outrage from lobby groups such as the Canadian
Health Coalition, which urged members to contact MPs on the committee.
On Wednesday night, the committee voted during an in-camera session to
begin its review on June 2.
Canada and the U.S. are the only two industrialized countries that allow
brand-name drug companies to keep a generic competitor off the market by
simply alleging patent infringement. The “automatic injunction” gives
brand-names an additional 24 months of market exclusivity on top of the
20-year patents on drugs. By filing new patents on minor variations of
an older drug, a drug company can extend its market exclusivity to
years.
U.S. President George W. Bush last year called for changes to the U.S.
law that allows gaming of drug patents by the brand-name manufacturers.
Former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow recommended in this report on
the health care system last year that similar rules in Canada also
should be reviewed. The generic industry says changing the patent rules
in their favour could save the health care system $1 billion a year.
The brand-name industry, however, insists that it needs the special
legal protection to foster innovation of new medicines. Without it,
generic manufacturers would knock off their products to grab market
share, then litigate any patent infringement allegations later, they
allege. That would cripple the development of new drugs, the brand-names
argue.
Lobbyists from brand-name pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Glaxo
Smith Kline were on hand for last week’s industry committee meeting to
bolster support for pushing back the review date until later in June —
which would effectively kill any study. The House of Commons sits until
June 6, but could extend until the 20th.
Now, three days of hearings are slated to begin June 2 with testimony
from Health Canada, Industry Canada, and drug company representatives.