The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) has published the latest edition of the Meds Pipeline Monitor, examining medicines undergoing clinical evaluation or in pre-registration, which may gain market authorization in Canada in the future.
“Oncology represented 40 per cent of all medicines in all phases of clinical trials. Treatments for infectious diseases and central nervous system diseases held the second and third largest share of the pipeline,” the PMPRB stated in an announcement about the publication’s release.
Other findings include that orphan medicines in the later stages of the pipeline made up 23 per cent of all medicines in phase III clinical trials and 24 per cent of those in pre-registration. Medicines for metabolic disorders are notable for making up five per cent of the overall pipeline, but 13 per cent of drugs in pre-registration.
“A medicine is in the pre-registration phase once all the necessary clinical trials have been completed and it is waiting for registration or approval for use by a governing body,” the report states. An orphan drug, meanwhile, is one used to treat a rare disease.
“The new medicines listed in this report are selected based on a review of the literature and clinical trial outcomes to determine if the medicine addresses an unmet therapeutic need, offers a novel mechanism of action or therapeutic benefit over existing therapies, or treats a serious condition,” the report explains. “Medicines reported on in previous editions are also reviewed and updated with newly published clinical trial results, additional regulatory designations, or other relevant developments.”
The report also provides an update on the medicines in the previous edition of the publication that have since received market authorization in Canada, the United States or in Europe.
Since the last publication of the report, of the 43 medicines which had been featured, 11 have since received market authorization, six were removed as clinical trials were discontinued and the remaining 26 return on this year’s list, as the PMPRB says they continue to satisfy the review board’s selection criteria.
“As of August 2025, the pipeline contained 10,501 new medicines across all stages of clinical development,” says the report.
