Health committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. My thanks also to all the members of the committee for this invitation. My name is Marc-André Gagnon. I am an associate professor at the School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University, Ottawa. Today, I will talk to you about the

International Trade committee  The fact that we have a medicare system excluding pharmacare is an anomaly in this world. Right now we have this pan-Canadian purchasing alliance. We are doing these PLAs, product listing agreements. The official price for selling drugs sometimes is much higher than the real pri

International Trade committee  Something very important on reaping the reward is, yes, absolutely, but, as I said, we have a system right now that is focusing on providing incentives for drugs that do not provide any therapeutic improvement as compared to what already exists.

International Trade committee  In dollars we're talking between $800 million and $1.6 billion today. In 2023 it will be different.

International Trade committee  When we're talking about an intellectual property regime for brand-name drugs, we need to look at the period of market exclusivity, so, yes, in terms of patent protection, exclusivity, etc., but also how much we're paying in terms of prices while it's under market exclusivity. T

International Trade committee  I absolutely agree with you on this. In terms of R and D-to-sales ratio this is the standard that is being used in order to measure the R and D intensity in different countries. You're absolutely right. We could look at other ratios, but normally this is the one that is establish

International Trade committee  No, no. This is the one used by PMPRB, but this is what is used in other countries as well. In terms of drugs for free, oh my God, for fiscal conservatives it sounds like absolute nonsense. We have a medicare system in Canada. We're the only country in the world with a medicare

International Trade committee  Absolutely. There has been for example, I don't remember which.... It's produced by Apotex, the cost is something like 10 times more in Canada than in New Zealand, but it is Apotex selling the same drug in New Zealand as well. The way we price generic drugs is politically dec

International Trade committee  Yes, absolutely. We're beefing up the intellectual property regime for brand-name drugs. The effect of an intellectual property regime is to increase the cost we're paying for something in order to provide incentives for innovation. So yes, absolutely this is the nature of it.

International Trade committee  Patent term restoration.

International Trade committee  The study I mentioned, and I will be happy to submit the memo to the committee, for—

International Trade committee  Basically we're thinking between one year and two years, but this is based on a sample of drugs that were going off patent in 2010. Will it be the same thing in 2023? I don't know. It will be a different basket of drugs. To give you an idea, right now, this is what it would mean.

International Trade committee  We're talking about an increase. What is not clear in what was disclosed in terms of principles of the agreement, is we don't know exactly if that protection will be extended as well to non-innovative drugs. If that is the case, the cost will be more important, but we're talking

International Trade committee  In terms of social policy this is where they are moving in the United Kingdom. Yes, I think when it comes to drugs, thinking about prescription drugs as a commodity that should be ruled based on supply and demand, especially based on the budget constraint of the different individ

International Trade committee  Well, precisely...