Summary
Despite its close proximity to the US, Canada's drug market in many ways has more in common with those in Western Europe, as healthcare is both publicly funded and universal, while prescription drug prices are kept low. In BMI's recently released Canada Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Report Q307 we peg the size of the market at US$18.6bn in 2006 and expect it to increase to US$23.9bn by 2011. However, like its European counterparts, Canada is faced with the challenge of running a sustainable system, while also providing a high standard of care. Critics of the current model describe it as inefficient, citing long waits for treatment and restricted access to the latest drugs. Many industry stakeholders are fearful that the current Conservative government, which has expressed interest in letting individuals optout of the state sector and take private coverage, presents a threat to the 'free-for-all' system. One quirk of the current system is that although prescription drugs are notably cheaper than equivalents in the US, the average price of generic medicines is far higher. This is because the Canadian system does not benefit from the same levels of competition. According to libertarian think tank the Fraser Institute, this costs Canadians between CAD2.5bn (US$2.37bn) and CAD6.6bn (US$6.3bn) per year. It is also affecting consumption levels, with generic prescriptions only accounting for 44% of total scripts in Canada, while over the border the levels stand at a more healthy 63%.
It has been a quiet quarter in terms of company activity with UK-based GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) providing the headlines with a US$50mn investment to establish an R&D unit in Quebec that will specialise in vaccines. The once moribund vaccines industry is witnessing a revival of interest of late from MNCs, as new technologies become available. Meanwhile, three years after Canada launched its Access to Medicines Regime, which aimed to provide low cost generic ARVS to help fight HIV/AIDS, Rwanda has become the first country to come forward and ask for assistance. Bureaucratic red tape has severely delayed the programme so far and could end up derailing this request. Rwanda have asked for 18mn tablets of the combination ARV Apo-triAvir (nevirapine + lamivudine + zidovudine), which is manufactured by Canadian firm Apotex, but permission must first be granted patent-holders GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim.
|
