Canadians come to the US for surgery, Americans go to Canada for
drugs. You know the story. What you may not know is that Canadians pay more for generic drugs than Americans. For different reasons, Japan, the world’s second largest market for pharmaceuticals,
has the same problem. Not only does this force companies to move
R&D overseas, it also sucks capital away from worthwhile companies
and diverts it to those who make copycat drugs. The result is a lack of
innovation and yet more reliance on the US for profits and R&D.