On January 10, 2022, the Competition Bureau and Health Canada (Health Products and Food Branch) issued a joint notice regarding the ongoing collaboration between the two institutions to address complex issues in the pharmaceutical sector. The objective of this ongoing collaboration is “to support Canadians’ access to safe, effective and affordable medicines.”
Both institutions are committed to collaborating further in the following areas:
- General information sharing;
- Cooperation on Bureau enforcement actions;
- The Bureau shares findings related to the impact of regulatory frameworks on competition in the context of access to medicines; and
- HPFB provides relevant feedback to the Bureau on competition-related issues that impact access to medicines for Canadians.
Both institutions state the issues surrounding access to samples of reference products as an example of collaboration between them.
Read the full notice to stakeholders here.