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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Trade deal to jack up health costs?
OTTAWA -- Confidential federal research on free-trade talks with Europe shows that giving the European Union just one part of what it wants on drug patents would cost Canadians up to $2 billion a year.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has always insisted it's a "myth" that the Canada-EU free trade deal would increase health costs.
But in September, officials at Industry Canada and Health Canada combined forces to examine the cost of the European demand to implement a patent-term restoration system, The Canadian Press has learned.
They found that based on past history of approval patterns, the EU proposal would add an average life of 2.66 years to a typical drug patent, and increase Canadian drug costs by between $795 million and $1.95 billion annually.
The range of projections is large because government analysts have no way of knowing exactly what kind of drugs will be in line for patents in the future, and had to make some broad assumptions.
The analysis also looked at the cost of a compromise that would see patent terms extended to cover the time between application for regulatory approval and market authorization.
Such an option would likely add an average of 1.23 years to patents, and cost Canadians between $367 million and $903 million annually.
A third option would just extend patents to cover off any delays beyond Health Canada's benchmark guidelines. It would extend patent terms by 18 days on average.
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 15, 2012 B5
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