[Ip-health] Canadian generic CL to Rwanda: never again?

[Aidan Hollis]

"Now that a Canadian pharmaceutical company has won the bid to produce and
ship cheap, generic AIDS drugs to Rwanda, it says it will never participate
in the goodwill program again unless the federal government simplifies the
process."

See
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080508.wdrugs08/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home

Basically, the story explains that the process is so complex and expensive
that no generic manufacturer in Canada can profitably engage with it.

Kudos to Apotex for trying to make this work, though, and for forcing the
government to grapple with the monster they created. And kudos to Richard
Elliott, who has made a consistent effort to reform the relevant laws and to
keep this issue alive in the Canadian media.

Aidan Hollis

Associate Professor
Department of Economics
University of Calgary

2500 University Dr NW
Calgary Alberta
T2N 1N4 Canada

tel: 403 220 5861  fax: 403 220 5861
email: ahollis@ucalgary.ca
web: http://econ.ucalgary.ca/hollis.htm