[twoodfin]

I don’t think it should be controversial to say that if the US imposed a Canadian-style price control regime on more than the handful of drugs currently regulated by Medicare, the future number of drugs developed and commercialized would drop significantly.

It’s just basic addressable market vs. development cost math.

[dghlsakjg]

The drug companies in Canada are part of the drug pricing process. Their development costs are considered. In exchange, they get additional monopoly priveleges on patented medicine.

Canada doesn’t even have particularly low drug pricing compared to the rest of the world, the opposite in fact. Canada just had low drug prices compared to the most expensive market on the planet.

It’s possible that lower drug prices in one country would disincentivize a global industry that touches almost every human on earth. Or it could not.

[phatfish]

Would the number of drugs developed drop, or would a few luxury yacht companies go bankrupt?

[twoodfin]

The number of drugs developed would drop. In particular, the really expensive to develop drugs that target rare conditions, exploit novel pathways, or require difficult synthesis.

The kinds of drugs that routinely experience years of delayed availability in markets like Canada and the UK until the learning curve has kicked in via the US and other less constrained markets.