Most Rxs in Canada now generic drugs

2008 was the year in which Canada's prescription drug market experienced a majority of scrips filled with generic versions of medicines for the  first time, according to the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical  Association. The group, citing data from IMS Health, noted that 51.6% of  all drugs sold by volume were copy medicines, though they account for  only 23% of the C$21.4 billion ($17.02 billion) spent on prescription  pharmaceuticals in 2008.

Jim Keon, the CGPA's president, said: "the savings provided by  lower-cost generic medicines have never been more important to Canada's  health care system and its economy. Given the current economic crisis,  it is becoming increasingly important for Canadian governments,  taxpayers, businesses and patients to maximize their use of generic  prescription medicines in order to make public- and  employer-sponsored drug benefit plans affordable and sustainable."

The CGPA claims that, if the same share of the prescription drug market  as in the USA (69%) were to be filled by generic versions of compounds,  the result would be an extra C$900.0 million per year in savings.