Pharmaceutical Data Protection In Canada: The Latest Word From Photocure

In the recent Photocure¹ decision the Federal Court has once again sided with Canada's Minister of Health in denying data protection for a new medicinal ingredient. In Photocure, the medicinal ingredient was labelled "a variation" of a previously approved medicinal ingredient. While Photocure presented expert evidence to the contrary, the Court refused to consider the evidence, refusing data protection in the process and opening the door to generic copying of Photocure's data filed with its New Drug Submission. This case presents an opportunity to examine the Minister's unbeaten track record in data protection judicial review applications and consider how we arrived at the present state of affairs.