Canadian generic drugmakers find fault with USMCA

The pharmaceutical intellectual property aspects of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which was agreed on Monday to replace the former North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) accord, have come in for criticism from the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA).

The trade group’s president, Jim Keon, points out that Canada was not at the table when harmful intellectual property provisions were negotiated between the USA and Mexico. The pharmaceutical provisions in USMCA will delay access to competition from biosimilar biologic drugs. Biologic medicines represent the fastest growing cost segment of health-care spending, and these delays will be costly to patients, businesses that sponsor employee drug plans, private payers and our industry, he said.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is disappointing for the vast majority of Canadians who feel access to more affordable prescription medicines is the most important aspect of the negotiations. A recent poll found that four in five Canadians feel that it is important that the negotiations should not delay Canadians access to more affordable versions of expensive biologic drugs. Four in five Canadians also say it's important that the agreement not create new barriers for the implementation of National Pharmacare in Canada.