Five major pharmaceutical companies have filed a constitutional challenge to the federal government’s incoming changes to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. The complaint was filed in Quebec Superior Court by the Canadian subsidiaries of Merck & Co., Janssen Inc., Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd. and Servier Inc. In statements provided to Benefits Canada, the companies […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is investing US$500 million in Laboratorios Sanfer, an independent Mexican pharmaceutical company. The company, which currently maintains a presence in 25 countries, has been focusing on growth through acquisitions for the past two decades, according to a press release. The investment from the Caisse will enable further […]
Quebec’s universal pharmacare program offers better drug coverage and quicker approval for new drugs coming to market than the rest of Canada, according to a new study by the Fraser Institute. Looking at drugs approved by Health Canada between 2008 and 2017, the report found Quebec went on to cover 33.4 per cent of them, […]
Plan sponsors and plan members are unaware of the key differences between private and public drug plans, according to the 2019 Sanofi Canada health-care survey. Both employer and employee respondents said they believe private and public prescription drug plans cover close to the same amount of medications. Plan members estimated about 6,600 drugs are covered under private […]
Industry groups had mixed feelings about an expert panel’s report calling for a single-payer pharmacare plan. Released on Wednesday by Eric Hoskins, former Ontario health minister, the report recommended Canada and the provinces work together to create a unified program that addresses the country’s patchwork of prescription drug plans. Provinces and territories, the panel said, […]
If the Canadian government wants to tackle drug coverage, it should focus on the areas where Canadians are facing genuine gaps, according to Joe Farago, executive director of health-care innovation at Innovative Medicines Canada. “The reality is only 1.8 per cent of Canadians have no form of private or public drug coverage,” said Farago, speaking at Benefits […]
An expert panel is calling for the federal government to work with the provinces and territories to create a single-payer public pharmacare program. Eric Hoskins, Ontario’s former health minister, released the findings in Ottawa on Wednesday, noting the recommendations aim to address the country’s patchwork of private and public prescription drug plans. The council is recommending […]
If the Canadian government wants to tackle drug coverage, it should focus on the areas where Canadians are facing genuine gaps, according to Joe Farago, executive director of health-care innovation at Innovative Medicines Canada. “The reality is only 1.8 per cent of Canadians have no form of private or public drug coverage,” said Farago, speaking at Benefits […]
The National Football League and the NFL Players Association are putting more resources in place for players’ pain management and behavioural health through new union agreements. The two parties will be forming a joint pain management committee, with medical experts appointed by both the league and the union, according to a press release. The committee will […]
Specialty medications and high-cost drugs for common conditions are driving up private plan drug spending, according to Express Scripts Canada’s annual drug trends report. The report found the rapid increases in drug spending for private plans over the last 20 years have started to slow. The average annual drug spending per plan member was up just 0.9 per cent […]