On February 16, 2024, the Minister of Health tabled the 2022 Annual Report of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB). The 2022 Annual Report provides an overview of the PMPRB’s mandate, structure and price review activities. It also contains analyses of sales and pricing trends (including comparisons of Canadian and foreign patented medicine prices) and research and development (R&D) expenditures.
Per the 2022 Annual Report:
- sales of patented medicines in Canada increased by 5.7% over the previous year (totalling $18.4 billion in 2022), and the national average transaction price increased by 0.8% (in comparison to a 6.8% increase in the Consumer Price Index);
- based on prices reported to the PMPRB for each class of customer, average prices of patented medicines in Canada in 2022 were (at market exchange rates):
- lower than those of Japan, Spain and the United Kingdom;
- comparable to those of Germany; and
- higher than those of the remaining PMPRB11 countries (Australia, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden);
- based on external data reflecting sales to the pharmacy and hospital sectors, Canadian patented medicine prices were, on average, second highest amongst the 31 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries (rising from third highest in 2021); and
- while overall R&D expenditures reported by rights holders decreased by 1.0% over the previous year (totalling $914.0 million in 2022), R&D expenditures reported by Innovative Medicines Canada members increased by 1.7% over the previous year (totalling $748.6 million in 2022).
The PMPRB has also released its March 2024 NEWSletter. Highlights include:
- updates on personnel, including new and departing Board members and the appointment of Guillaume Couillard as Executive Director;
- a summary of the PMPRB’s review under the Amended Interim Guidance of medicines without a MAPP (Maximum Average Potential Price); and
- recent activities and new and upcoming publications pursuant to the National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System (NPDUIS) initiative (including the 2021/22 CompassRx report and the seventh edition of the Meds Entry Watch report).
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