On December 20, 2025, Health Canada announced draft Clinical Trial Regulations (CT Regulations) and related guidance that would revamp how clinical trials are regulated in Canada. The draft regulations are intended to clarify and simplify existing rules and
Health Canada
Pharma in Brief’s 2025 Year in Review and What to Watch for in 2026
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…
Agile drug licensing: Health Canada consulting on new “terms and conditions” guidance to replace its Notice of Compliance with Conditions policy
In December 2025, Health Canada published new draft guidance documents detailing when and how terms and conditions (T&Cs) may be imposed on drugs pursuant to amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations (FDR). The related FDR…
Biosimilar drugs will no longer need phase 3 clinical trials: Proposed changes from Health Canada
Health Canada has proposed a substantial change to the regulation of biosimilar drugs in Canada that may result in earlier applications for marketing authorization and earlier litigation under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations (PMNOC Regulations). Specifically…
Agile licensing, risk, biologics, and more: Wide-ranging amendments to Canada’s drug and medical device regulations
Canada has made wide-ranging amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) and the Medical Devices Regulations (MDR). The amendments are intended to deliver on Health Canada’s modernization commitments, codify long-standing policies and practices, and implement…
Drug shortages: New requirements proposed for the Food and Drug Regulations
Health Canada has proposed additional regulations intended to prevent, mitigate, and respond to drug shortages. The proposed amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations (Regulations) include new requirements for drug market authorization holders to develop shortage prevention and…
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…
Health Canada disclosing more information on pending generic drug submissions
On February 23, 2024, Health Canada published a Notice advising that it was making its review process for generic drug submissions more transparent. Specifically, for generic drug submissions accepted into review on or after April 1, 2024, Health Canada will…
Federal Court finds trademark confusion between the names of two approved biologics
The Federal Court (FC) has found the brand name of a biologic drug to be confusingly similar to the brand name of a drug used to treat the same disorder, but with a different active ingredient. The application…
Dormant drug status can trigger generic access to an alternate Canadian Reference Product
On January 26, 2024, Health Canada published a Notice concerning its application of the definition of Canadian Reference Product (CRP) in the Food and Drug Regulations (Regulations). The Notice advises that if an innovative drug is…