Patented Medicines Expenditure in Canada 1990-2018
CHPI ANALYSIS
Canadian Health Policy, December 2020. ISSN 2562-9492 www.canadianhealthpolicy.com
Abstract
The purpose of this annual study is to correct common misconceptions about the cost of patented medicines in Canada. The analysis uses publicly available data to: identify national expenditure attributable to the prices of patented medicines in Canada.; assess the affordability and sustainability of these expenditures relative to population, general price inflation, GDP and other healthcare costs; and discuss national expenditure on patented medicine in the context of the health-economic benefits of pharmaceutical innovation. The analysis uses the most recently published historical and comparable data from the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB), the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), and Statistics Canada. PMPRB data availability determined the time frame of the analysis. Annual national sales data for patented medicines were available from 1990 to 2018. Annual national sales data for patented medicines defined by PMPRB as “high-cost” drugs were available from 2006 to 2018. Patented medicines price indices data were available from 1988 to 2018. Foreign-to-Canadian price ratios for patented medicines were available from 2007 to 2018.
