In a May 8 decision, the Quebec Court of Appeal confirmed that the Quebec Consumer Protection Act (CPA) does not apply to the sale of prescription drugs. The decision, Brousseau v Laboratoires Abbott limitée, 2019 QCCA 801 provides critical guidance on the liability regime in Quebec for manufacturers of pharmaceutical products facing product liability claims. A French version of this post follows. Relevant facts Abbott Laboratories manufactured a drug commercialized under the name Biaxin®. Abbott…

The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Apotex Inc. (Apotex) in its unsuccessful application for judicial review of a decision by the Minister of Health (the Minister) to cancel the reconsideration of approval for Apo-omeprazole. Background As we reported, the Minister revoked Apotex’s Notice of Compliance (NOC) for Apo-omeprazole and declined to issue the NOC again in 2013 due to inadequate evidence of bioequivalence in its Abbreviated New Drug Submission. Apotex…

The federal government has proposed changes to the Food and Drugs Act (FDA) that would allow the Minister of Health (Minister) to classify products as foods, drugs, cosmetics, devices, or “advanced therapeutic products”; require authorizations to conduct clinical trials; and modify Health Canada’s inspection powers. These changes are included in an omnibus budget bill, the Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No 1 (Bill C-97). Bill C-97 was introduced and received its first reading in the House…

On March 30, 2019, the government published proposed amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) intended to clarify whether a generic version of a drug can be approved using the abbreviated new drug submission (ANDS) pathway. These amendments affect how the FDR apply to a generic drug product if it contains a different medicinal ingredient than the Canadian reference product (CRP), but the same therapeutically active component. They also include changes to (i) labelling…

On March 8, 2019, the Federal Court issued a prohibition order against a generic version of GLUMETZA® (metformin hydrochloride extended-release tablets) proposed by Generic Partners Canada Inc. (Generic Partners) in an application under the pre-CETA Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations. GLUMETZA® is marketed in Canada by Valeant Canada LP/Valeant Canada SEC (Valeant), which asserted Canadian Patent No. 2,412,671 (671 Patent) against Generic Partners in the proceeding. 671 Patent and its Claims The 671 Patent…

On March 20, 2019, new amendments to both the Food and Drug Regulations (the Regulations) and the Medical Devices Regulations regarding the disclosure of clinical data were published in the Canada Gazette. These changes follow from the May 2017 release of Health Canada’s white paper – Public Release of Clinical Information in Drug Submissions and Medical Device Applications (which we have previously reported on here and here), and confirm Health Canada’s decision to…

As we reported the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare recently released an interim report calling for the creation of a national drug agency.  Yesterday, the federal government announced funding to implement this recommendation. Specifically, the government intends to work with partners to implement the following: Create the Canadian Drug Agency — to provide a coordinated approach on prescription drugs. Budget 2019 proposes to provide Health Canada with $35 million over four years,…