TPP heightens urgency for national drug coverage in Canada
TANISHQ SURYAVANSHI, and JAKE HIRSCH-ALLEN
Toronto Star

With the U.S. presidential candidates actively debating America’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), it is time for Canada to begin reconsidering its role in the trade agreement. The TPP may leave significantly more Canadians without medications, causing a heightened urgency to create and implement a national plan that ensures access to necessary drugs for all Canadians.

The TPP influences drug prices by strengthening intellectual property rights and preventing generic drug production. Two ways such rights are strengthened include making “evergreening” easier for innovative firms and by granting data exclusivity to pharmaceutical products.

Evergreening is the renewing of patent protection on pre-existing drugs through minor adjustments. Previously, the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights flexibilities under the World Trade Organization, allowed countries to control patent term length through high requirements for patent renewal.

However, the TPP makes it much more difficult for countries to control the patent renewal process. By requiring all countries in the trade agreement to grant patents for minor innovations to existing drugs, the threshold of innovativeness in the pharmaceutical industry is lowered. As a result, firms can extend the protection on certain medications, delaying the production of generic drugs and keeping prices high.