Posted by Michael Wonder on 17 Jul 2017
Quebec expects $1.2 billion in savings with new drug price deal
17 July 2017 - Government and generic-drug makers cap weeks of tense talks.
Quebec said it will save at least C$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion) over five years after reaching an agreement with pharmaceutical companies to lower prices for generic drugs.
The deal, announced Sunday by Health Minister Gaetan Barrette, will take effect in the fall and marks the end of acrimonious negotiations during which the government threatened to pursue competitive bidding. Barrette declined to give details because generic-drug makers are currently holding similar talks with an alliance of Canadian provinces.
“We pay too much for our drugs, and this was about finding a balanced, reasonable meeting point to protect the industry and jobs, while paying less,” Barrette said at a press conference in Montreal. “In effect, this is a 40% saving, which is huge."
