Sunday, May 09, 2010

Drug makers seek relief from price cuts

From the Toronto Star:
The manufacturing costs of some generic drugs are too high to slash prices by 50 per cent under Ontario’s controversial reforms, Health Minister Deb Matthews acknowledged Thursday.

Negotiations have been taking place for weeks with generic drug makers to work out exceptions to the rule, Matthews said after generic giant Apotex Inc. sent a letter to pharmacies warning of trouble ahead.

“The extent of the cuts announced by the government of Ontario could undermine our ability to keep some existing products in the market and potentially impact our ability to develop and bring to market new cost-saving drugs,” said the two-page letter signed by Apotex president Jack Kay.

The letter, dated Wednesday, did not specify which drugs could be in jeopardy because that information is viewed as sensitive in the cutthroat generic drug industry, sources said. There are about 10 generic companies in Ontario. ...more

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