The Patent Act, as amended, specifies that reducing the cost of drugs is a primary objective of compulsory licensing.
Where the invention is other than a process, to import, make, use or sell the invention for medicine or tor the preparation or production of medicine, the Commissioner shall grant to the applicant a license to do things specified in the application except such, if any of those things in respect to which he sees good reason not to grant such a license…. Where, in the case of any patent for an invention intended or capable of being used for medicine or for the preparation or production of medicine, an application is made by any person for a license to do one or more of the following things … What the Special Committee proposed was that, if the Canadian Patent Commission found a drug being sold at an unreasonably high price, compulsory licenses would also be available for firms wishing to import and sell products they do not manufacture in Canada.Īs a result of the recommendations by the Special Committee on Drug Costs and Prices, the Canadian Parliament passed an amendment to the Patent Act in June 1969. In 1976, the Special Committee of the House of Commons on Drug Costs and Prices recommended that the law be broadened to allow, under certain circumstances, compulsory licenses covering imported drugs ( Canadian House of Commons, 1966–67). Prior to 1967, under existing Canadian law, licenses could only be granted to firms which manufactured the licensed product in Canada.
Rather, Canada's success was achieved through a series of interrelated steps aimed at stimulating price competition in drug manufacturing and encouraging prescribers, dispensers, and consumers of prescription drugs to take advantage of newly created opportunities. This study of the Canadian experience reveals that no single program reduces retail drug costs. Also, to clarify the advantages of existing competitive opportunities, efforts have been made to (1) disseminate comparative price data (2) demonstrate that chemically equivalent drugs are of acceptable quality and (3) encourage pharmacists to dispense quality products at a reasonable cost.Ī description of these Canadian programs and a preliminary evaluation of whether they have accomplished their objective follow. To foster competition in the pharmaceutical industry, Canadian patent laws have been amended to allow firms other than the patent holder to obtain a government license to manufacture, import, and sell a patented prescription drug. In the face of these increases, Canadian governments at the national and provincial levels have tried to encourage lower prescription drug prices. expenditures jumped from $2.2 to 4.4 billion ( USDHEW, 1972) and Canadian from $132.6 million to $360.4 million ( Canadian Ministry of National Health and Welfare, 1973). Also, both countries experienced significant increases in personal expenditures for prescription drugs between 19. Canadian prices ranked highest for 3 products and second highest for 14. prices ranked highest for 12 products and second highest for 3 more ( Jacoby, 1971).
According to one 1970 study of prices for 20 products in 8 countries, U.S. and Canadian prescription prices paid by the pharmacist reveals interesting similarities.