Absolutely. We should be able to go to market immediately upon passing the science review at the PMRA.
I can give you some background behind the logic of the PMRA's thinking on this. There may be data compensation owing to an innovator here in Canada. PMRA thinks that a company may enter the market and in that 240 days market the product and run away with their profits and not pay the innovator. In the U.S., that doesn't happen.
There is concern. And somehow the other major companies have convinced PMRA that it is an issue or could be an issue in the future. There are ways of circumventing that. But you have to think about a generic coming into the marketplace here. They probably spent three years and close to $1 million getting that product registered. Are they going to walk away after one year of marketing? It's highly unlikely. There are ways of bonding your escrow that could be used as a middle ground, and we've suggested some of that.
Certainly we have to be on a level playing field if we want generic competition here in Canada, and that means getting into the market as soon as that product is off patent.
