The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board () is a federal
quasi-judicial
A quasi-judicial body is non-judicial body which can interpret law. It is an entity such as an arbitration panel or tribunal board, that can be a public administrative agency but also a contract- or private law entity, which has been ...
regulatory and reporting agency in Canada with a mandate to protect consumers by ensuring that the prices of
patented medication charged by
manufacturers of patented drugs are not excessive. The board does this through its role as a regulator, and through its reporting on trends, research and development in the
Canadian pharmaceutical industry.
The board investigates, reviews and negotiates the price of individual drugs that are still under
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
and which have no
generic substitutes. It establishes the maximum prices that can be charged in Canada for patented drugs.
Prescription drug prices in the United States
Prescription drug list prices in the United States continually rank among the highest in the world. The high cost of prescription drugs became a major topic of discussion in the 21st century, leading up to the American health care reform debate ...
Accountability
The board is accountable to
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
through the
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Coun ...
, the
elected official
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...
responsible for the health portfolio. Under sections 89 and 100 of the ''
Patent Act
Patent Act and Patents Act (with their variations) are stock short titles used in Canada, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States for legislation relating to patents.
A Patent Act is a country's legislation that con ...
'', the board produces an annual report submitted to the minister, who tables it in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
.
Background
Bill C-22, which was passed in 1987, established a
compulsory licensing system under which drug patent holders were required to allow competing drug manufacturers to import their patented drug in exchange for a very modest 4% royalty, which resulted in an increase in the
market share of
generic drugs
A generic drug is a pharmaceutical drug that contains the same chemical substance as a drug that was originally protected by chemical patents. Generic drugs are allowed for sale after the patents on the original drugs expire. Because the active c ...
.
At the same time, it established the federal Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. The board determines a maximum price for individual drugs through a review process, and negotiates "voluntary compliance agreements" with drug companies to ensure that "manufacturer prices are within justification, and
renot excessive".
Annual reports
According to their annual report for the fiscal year 2017, there were 1,391 patented medicines for human use that were reported, which included 80 new medicines. By December 31, 2017, there were 14 voluntary compliance undertakings accepted.
[1998. Report of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board]
Road Map for the Next Decade
Ottawa, Ontario. 36pp. Patented medicines represented 61.5% of the total medicine sales in Canada in 2017 up from 60.8% in 2016.
Notes
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Independent government agencies of Canada
Pharmacy organizations in Canada