Provincial
Overview of Ontario's Generic Pharmaceutical Industry
Based largely in the Greater Toronto Area,
Ontario is home to one of the world’s
largest concentrations of generic pharmaceutical
research, development and
manufacturing. The CGPA members have
14 provincial facilities.
Employment by the numbers
- Approximately 8,000 employees; 82%
of Canadian production workers; 86%
of administrative staff; and 75% of R&D
staff are in Ontario
- 40% of sales volume is in exports
- More than $1 billion dollars of
product exported annually
Innovation by the numbers
- CGPA member companies spend
approximately $300-million on research
and development in Ontario
- CGPA member companies invest 15%
of sales in research and development
- Ontario-based Apotex is the largest R&D
spender among all pharmaceutical
companies in Canada
- According to Research Infosource’s
2006 annual list of the top 100 corporate
R&D spenders in Canada, Apotex
spent $183-million on R&D, which is
18.3% of sales
Exports by the numbers
- Canada’s generic drug industry
generates 40% of its sales volume from
exporting made-in-Canada pharmaceuticals,
primarily to the United States
- Generic pharmaceutical companies
export more than $1-billion annually
from Ontario
-
At its Toronto R&D and production
facilities, Apotex has developed a
triple-combination HIV/AIDS drug for
export to developing countries under
Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime
(CAMR) and offered to sell it at cost
Key Economic Numbers: Brand vs. Generic
| |
Jobs |
Sales |
R&D Spending |
| BRAND |
9,000 |
$6.48-billion |
$360-million |
| GENERIC |
8,000 |
$1.85-billion |
$300-million |
(Total: $8.3-billion public
and private sector)
As the numbers clearly indicate, a dollar spent on a generic drug supports more
jobs, more investment in R&D, and more investment in pharmaceutical manufacturing
capacity in Ontario than a dollar spent on a brand-name drug.
Manufacturing
In terms of who is doing what in Ontario,
most brand-name drugs sold in Ontario
and Canada are shipped into the country.
Almost all generic drugs sold in Canada
are made in the GTA or Montreal area.
The majority of the pharmaceutical manufacturing
capacity that exists in Canada
is generic, and the majority of that is in
Ontario.
An October 2007 report by the Competition
Bureau confirms Canada’s generic pharmaceutical
industry is highly competitive
and plays an important role in controlling
prescription drug costs.
As the chart illustrates, data from Statistics
Canada shows that Ontario’s trade deficit
in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing
has grown from $3.3-billion in
2000 to more than $6.4-billion in 2011.
In its 2004 Annual Report, the Patented
Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB)
points out that, “most generic drugs sold in
Canada are produced domestically.”
The PMPRB report confirms that Canada’s
large trade deficit in pharmaceutical and
medicine manufacturing is due to the
brand-name pharmaceutical industry.
Ontario Trade Balances: Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing
| YEAR |
EXPORT |
IMPORT |
BALANCE |
| 2000 |
1,029 |
4,306 |
(3,276) |
| 2001 |
1,374 |
5,159 |
(3,784) |
| 2002 |
1,597 |
5,802 |
(4,205) |
| 2003 |
2,473 |
5,908 |
(3,435) |
| 2004 |
3,050 |
6,808 |
(3,758) |
| 2005 |
3,394 |
7,208 |
(3,814) |
| 2006 |
3,925 |
8,097 |
(4,172) |
| 2007 |
5,274 |
9,638 |
(4,364) |
| 2008 |
5,418 |
9,894 |
(4,447) |
| 2009 |
5,799 |
10,369 |
(4,570) |
| 2010 |
4,242 |
9,812 |
(5,570) |
| 2011 |
4,292 |
10,667 |
(6,375) |
Source: Statistics Canada
Value in Millions of Canadian Dollars
