Health committee  With regard to marketplace issues, I think we were referring to marketplace issues in Canada and internationally. Some of the speakers have mentioned that for some of these older products, there's a diminishing number of suppliers, and that is true. There has been rationalization internationally, and the reality is as—

Health committee  There are fewer.

Health committee  Prices have been going down worldwide for some of these products, and therefore there are fewer companies that can commercially exist making those products.

Health committee  The reality is that if prices go down too low, and we're relying on suppliers internationally and they go out of business, we will have fewer suppliers available to us. That has been happening. Canadian prices have been declining. Prices have been declining in the U.S. and Europe.

Health committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, and good morning, honourable members. We want to thank you for providing Canada's generic pharmaceutical industry with the opportunity to contribute to your study of the domestic drug supply system. As the chair said, I am Jim Keon, president of the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association, or CGPA.

International Trade committee  Yes, we can table documentation on research and development spending and how it has declined despite increased intellectual property protection in Canada. We can also table where the new research and development spending is going internationally.

International Trade committee  We have presented the study to the federal government, to the chief negotiator. We've had good access in terms of presenting our issues. The costs are a major element of these proposals, particularly, as you said, with provincial governments, but also with large payers. We noted in our comments that the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, which represents large employers and insurance companies, and a number of other groups have expressed concern.

International Trade committee  The study you're referring to was done by two of the leading economists in the pharmaceutical sector in Canada: Aidan Hollis at the University of Calgary and Paul Grootendorst at the University of Toronto. It's their numbers. They simply looked at the recent launches of generic products and asked what would have happened had those products been delayed according to the proposals.

Industry committee  I think generic companies are businesses. They look at developing products, typically as patents expire. They have a timeframe for that, and with this bill, you'd be looking at developing a product or a developing country market, not a Canadian market, not a U.S. market, not a European market, at an earlier point.

Industry committee  I would reiterate in part what others said today. We're here reviewing this particular piece of legislation, CAMR, and suggested amendments to it. We generally support the bill, subject to the one clarification. In terms of medicines, that's what the companies that I represent make: they make generic medicines, good-quality medicines from Canada, approved by Health Canada.

Industry committee  Each company must decide if it wants to use the current legislation. It's clear that, in Canada, the legislation is complex. Other companies know what happened in the Apotex case and, for now, they have decided that it's not worth their while to try to use the legislation. As I said, our companies already export generic medicines to developing countries, but it is currently too difficult to try to use this legislation and to obtain a licence authorizing the export of patented medicines.

Industry committee  I meant our companies that I represent in the association.

Industry committee  I think Apotex is a leader in Canada. It took the opportunity, the challenge, and went forward. I would say that there was tremendous enthusiasm within that company. People worked long hours, they worked weekends and evenings to try to get the product approved as quickly as possible.

Industry committee  As I mentioned, the generic companies are major contributors to Health Partners International. That's the group in Canada that deals most consistently with donations of medicines abroad, so we work very actively with them. Generics are now again filling the majority of the medicines they ship.

Industry committee  I do not.