Prognosis
Trudeau’s Drug-Price Overhaul Is Set to Cost Drugmakers Billions
- Canada revamps drug-pricing regime for first time since 1987
- Cheaper medicines could potentially impact U.S. market as well
An employee works in the pharmacy drugstore in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Photographer: Cole Burston/Bloomberg
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is overhauling Canada’s drug-pricing regime for the first time in more than 30 years, a move that could cost drugmakers billions in sales and raise the stakes in a U.S. debate over prescription costs.
Trudeau, who is trying to fend off a conservative challenger in an election in October, has pushed through new regulations to drop the U.S. from a basket of countries Canada uses to cap domestic drug prices. The move is part of a wider revamp that marks “the biggest step to lower drug prices in a generation,” said Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor.