The Pharma in Brief team is looking back at 2025’s most notable legal and regulatory developments in the Canadian pharmaceutical space and highlighting hot topics for 2026. To those who don’t make it to the end of the article, we’ll
Intellectual property
Federal Court of Appeal affirms trademark confusion between names of eye medicines
The Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) has affirmed a Federal Court (FC) decision finding that the brand name of a biosimilar drug (BYOOVIZ) was confusingly similar with the brand name of a biologic drug (BEOVU), even…
Drug Pricing Update: PMPRB releases final price-review Guidelines
On June 30, 2025, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB or Board) released the final version of its new guidelines (the Guidelines).
The Guidelines outline a new process for Board Staff to evaluate and make hearing…
Federal Court upholds patent validity and issues injunction and delivery up order against biosimilar
The Federal Court (FC) has upheld the validity of a patent concerning a biologic drug used to treat patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare blood disorder, in an infringement action under section 6 of…
Pharma in Brief’s 2024 Year in Review and Trends for 2025
2024 saw no shortage of headlines in the Canadian pharma space. Here we look back on the year’s most notable legal and regulatory developments and look forward to areas to watch in 2025.
1. National pharmacare comes to Canada
In…
Drug Pricing Update: PMPRB launches consultation on Draft Guidelines for price review
The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB or Board) has released a draft of its new price review Guidelines (the Draft Guidelines) for consultation. The Draft Guidelines outline a proposed new price-review process for Board Staff, with…
Federal Court declares patent ineligible for listing during PM(NOC) infringement action
The Federal Court (FC) has provided fresh guidance on applying the test for challenging patent-listing eligibility in an infringement action under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations (the Regulations). Granting the delisting motion before it, the…
Federal Court denies samples for testing infringement of biologic process patent
The Federal Court recently refused to order a defendant to produce samples of cell culture because there was no “reasonable possibility” that testing the samples would yield evidence of patent infringement. In pharmaceutical patent cases, testing samples of a defendant’s…
Federal Court of Appeal confirms that the PMPRB has no jurisdiction over unpatented medicines
The Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) has confirmed that the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB or Board) does not have jurisdiction over the prices of unpatented medicines. In doing so, the FCA overturned decisions of…
Federal Court updates Guidelines for PMNOC proceedings
On November 28, 2024, the Federal Court updated its guidelines for proceedings under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations (PMNOC Regulations) and other complex proceedings. While the changes are not extensive, they create some new obligations and…