Absolutely, and thank you for the question.
The current regulations provide a system that encourages the resolution of patent infringement issues before a generic drug actually enters the market. Often this is done through litigation. Under the current system, if a judgment goes against a generic company, that generic company has a de facto right of appeal. It can go back and ask the courts to reconsider the decision. Should the decision go against an innovator, most often we do not have that right of appeal, so we cannot go back and ask the courts to reconsider the decision. We consider this a fundamental inequity in the system, and it destabilizes the IP system here in Canada.
For that reason, we believe that the regulatory amendments to create a time limited but effective innovator appeal mechanism are really needed to restore that balance in the operation of the regulations in a way that would also allow us to create jobs and bring investment into the country.