SPPA Associate Professor Marc-André Gagnon
SPPA Associate Professor Marc-André Gagnon published Commentary: Reconsidering Pharmaceutical Research and Development Investments in Healthcare Policy, Volume 18, Issue 3, Pages 25-30, February 2023. ISSN 17156572 DOI 10.12927/HCPOL.2023.27037
Abstract
Following Lee and colleagues’ (2023) article explaining how Canadians are being shortchanged by drug companies when it comes to investments in research and development (R&D), this rejoinder adds context and appends two other very problematic elements in the debate between wishful narratives over the industry’s contribution in R&D and actual numbers. First, even the current stricter definition of R&D investment might simply be too large considering that elements such as seeding trials – a well-known marketing device – can be accounted for as R&D expenditures. Second, this rejoinder identifies how Statistics Canada acted in concert with Innovative Medicines Canada to reinforce the industry’s preferred narratives around R&D expenditures. This situation puts into question the trustworthiness of Canada’s statistical agency.
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