CDMA Study: Canadians Say "Cut Patent Monopoly"

A new public opinion study, conducted by Environics on behalf of the Canadian Drug Manufacturers Association which represents the country's generic drug industry, suggests that 74% of the Canadian population believes the government should reduce the length of market monopolies that result from pharmaceutical patent protection if it would result in more cost-saving generic drugs coming to the market faster. An equal number of respondees in the survey feel the price of prescription drugs is too high, the CDMA has pointed out.

The study was commissioned ahead of the Parliamentary Review of Bill C-91 - the Mulronery government's drug patent legislation - which is scheduled to begin in February 1997. The Bill has granted lengthy new exclusivity periods to foreign-owned multinational pharmaceutical firms and placed new restrictions on the largely Canadian-owned generic drug industry, the CDMA notes.

A report in the Montreal Gazette also notes that just over half of the study's respondents said that brand-name drugs should have five or fewer years of protection, and about 40% said the law has led to higher costs for prescription medicines.