CETA and pharmaceuticals: impact of the trade agreement between Europe and Canada on the costs of prescription drugs.

ABSTRACT: On a per capita basis, Canadian drug costs are already the second highest in the world after the United States and are among the fastest rising in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union (EU) and Canada will further exacerbate the rise in costs by:  Committing Canada to creating a new system of patent term restoration thereby delaying entry of generic medicines by up to two years; Locking in Canada's current term of data protection, and creating barriers for future governments wanting to reverse it;  Implementing a new right of appeal under the patent linkage system that will create further delays for the entry of generics.CETA will only affect intellectual property rights in Canada-not the

SUBMITTER: Lexchin J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4108121 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature