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OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada dealt a blow to pharmacy chains on Friday when it upheld the province of Ontario’s ban on drugstores’ sales of their own private-label generic prescription drugs.

Pharmacy companies saw the private-label drugs as a way to reduce the impact of Ontario regulations designed to lower the cost of generic drugs. A lower court ruled that the store brand drugs circumvent bans on professional allowances and rebates.

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The Ontario rules have weighed on the earnings of the drugstore chains, including Shoppers Drug Mart Corp, a principal appellant in this case. Shoppers’ share price edged lower after Friday’s ruling, down 7 cents at $59.04.

In the 7-0 decision, Justice Rosalie Abella noted that Canada spends more on prescription drugs per capita than almost any other industrialized country and she highlighted “Ontario’s totemic struggle to control generic drug prices.”