Posted by Michael Wonder on 13 Aug 2019
Ottawa’s move to cut drug prices may lead to fewer new launches, less R&D
13 August 2019 - Health Canada is fundamentally changing how prescription drugs are priced in Canada.
The new rules, released on Friday, focus exclusively on cost-containment in an effort to make drugs more affordable for some patients, but ignore the concerns of other patients, the pharmaceutical industry and others about the impact on drug access and innovation.
Two changes are especially significant.
First, the little-known federal Patented Medicine Prices Review Board currently uses drug prices in seven other countries (including the United States and Switzerland, which have high drug prices) to help set prices for drugs new to Canada.
