drug patents

Before breaking for the summer, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science, and Technology considered weakening the patent regulations that support Canada’s pharmaceutical market. Now, prompted by public-sector unions, the Competition Bureau will look at whether pharmaceutical patents are anti-competitive. These investigations have only one result: to harm international investors’ confidence in Canada’s will to protect intellectual property. Furthermore, history suggests that if they succeed in weakening patents, drug costs are unlikely to come down.