3 December 2018 - USMCA concessions latest hit to Canadian prescription drug costs.

Brand-name drug companies' research and development spending as a percentage of sales in Canada is less than half of the 10% the industry committed to when their periods of market exclusivity were first increased in 1987, according to the most recent annual report from the federal government's Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB).

The PMPRB's latest annual reports shows that in 2017, member companies of Innovative Medicines Canada spent only 4.6% of their Canadian revenues on research and development in Canada, marking the 15th consecutive year they have failed to meet the 10% threshold. According to the PMPRB 2017 Annual Report, member companies of Innovative Medicines Canada have failed to meet their 10% commitment in 20 of the last 30 years.

Read Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association press release