These achievements have not come without cost. Indeed, the growth of spending on pharmaceuticals has outpaced other components of health care for several years. Profits in the industry remain high and marketing continues to play a central role in determining drug utilization. The persistence of these issues is related to the politics and interests of the major players in the pharmaceutical industry and to the trends and corporate strategies of the multinational manufacturers of drugs. The pharmaceutical industry is composed of several major interest groups, each having a different set of objectives and different professional, financial and legal constraints.
Consumers seek the positive health outcomes associated with the use of certain drugs.
They often seek doctors' advice on drugs and treatment due to a lack of knowledge of medicine. Public insurance is provided for people without the means to pay for drugs, and a large percentage of consumers are insured for prescription drugs through extended health care coverage offered by employers and unions. For all these reasons, the demand for pharmaceuticals is highly insensitive to price change. Canada represents about two per cent of the world market for pharmaceuticals. The manufacturing industry in Canada consists of large, multiproduct, research-oriented firms that are foreign owned, with Canadian generic drug manufacturers and a number of smaller firms competing in niche markets.