Propecia and Canadian Patent Law
Hey Dr Rassman
I just wanted to confirm what I read on a previous post regarding generic Propecia’s legitimacy in Canada. I recently went to the local pharmacy to get a refill on Proscar and I decided to ask the pharmacist about the 1 mg generic finasteride. It turns out it is available which I find quite strange. Wasn’t the drug approved simultaneously by the 2 countries?
I dont expect you to know all the ins and outs of the Canadian drug approval process but your speculation would be interesting food for thought…..thanks!
While I am not too knowledgeable about specific Canadian patent rules, thanks to an article a reader sent in I learned that the Federal Court of Canada ruled the Propecia patent invalid back in May of this year due to double patenting. This cleared the way for generic 1mg finasteride to become readily available in Canadian pharmacies. The full story can be found at CanadianTechnologyIPLaw.com.
I know that Merck’s U.S. patent on Propecia will expire sometime in 2013.
I was just at the pharmacy and they asked if I wanted the generic or the name brand.
I said to myself “I think I remember reading something about the generic version available in Canada on Balding Blog; I’ll double check when I get home.” Sure enough, a new posting just hours later.
Weird.
That’s right! We are on top of it! Thanks for reading!