impressive research breakthroughs are producing therapies that extend lives and alleviate suffering. they are being developed and deployed at an accelerating rate. yet canadians risk being left behind in gaining access to them, thanks to regulations from the federal patented medicine prices review board (pmprb) that are scheduled to go into effect july 1.
the pmprb believes that companies would be happy to sell canada their new drugs for much less than they get in about half of the other 36 oecd countries. it doesn’t look like they’re right. virtually every senior executive surveyed by research etc. for life sciences ontario indicated that pmprb regulations would have a significant negative impact on product launches and supply, compassionate access programs, research, employment and manufacturing. this threatens not only access to innovative, effective lethal disease treatments but also our economy.
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until recently, canada ranked fourth in new medicines approved and launched, just behind the united states, germany and the united kingdom. the situation is changing rapidly. in 2018, companies commercialized 22 new drugs in canada out of 23 globally; in 2019 it was 13 out of 31. as of april 2021, fully 51 medicines approved in the u.s. have not been submitted for consideration in canada because of the coming new price regulations, initially announced in 2019.
a 52-per-cent decline in canadian clinical trials since 2018 also indicates that many companies don’t expect to market their drugs here. in a 2020 review, 44 of 49 systematic studies found that more trials mean better access to drugs. trials allow canadians compassionate access to drugs before they are approved.
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