ABSTRACT
The Canadian Patented Medicines Price Review Board (PMPRB) sets non-excessive price ceilings for patented drugs. Since 2003, new drugs are subject to the Common Drug Review process if they are to qualify for provincial formulary consideration. The new PMPRB Guidelines define through some screening factors which drugs are high priority and consequently “would be subject to automatic investigation and a comprehensive review to determine whether their price is potentially excessive.” The PMPRB was set up under the Patent Act of 1987, ending a period of compulsory licensing history in Canada, and under which the generic industry was given extensive opportunity to grow, while only having to pay minor fees to innovators. Canada has ten provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan) and three territories (Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon) that manage their healthcare budgets independently.
