Posted by Michael Wonder on 30 Jan 2018
To avoid open bidding, generic-drug makers cut prices outside Quebec
30 January 2018 - The provinces outside Quebec are expecting to save as much as $3-billion over five years after generic-drug makers agreed to cut the prices of dozens of popular medications in exchange for a promise that no jurisdiction will move to a system of public tendering for its drugs.
The deal, announced on Monday by the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA) – the organization that negotiates group discounts on behalf of Canada's public drug plans – comes less than a year after Quebec threatened to upend the generic-pharmaceutical business by forcing companies to submit bids to become the sole supplier of particular medications.
Quebec's plan so alarmed generic-drug makers that they agreed last summer to make voluntary price cuts worth about $1.5-billion over five years; in return, Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette promised to back off tendering for at least five years.
