The 2019 Annual Report of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) reveals that sales of patented drugs grew to over $17.2 billion in 2019, up 3.5 per cent from a year earlier. 

The report, tabled March 25 by Patty Hajdu, Federal Minister of Health, says high-cost drugs remain the primary cost driver for Canadian public and private drug plans. In 2019, seven of the top ten selling patented drugs had annual treatment costs of more than $10,000 per year. 

The report also stated that high-cost medicines accounted for almost 50% of all patented medicine sales in 2019.

Canadian list prices were fourth highest among 31 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries – lower only than prices in Switzerland, Germany and the US.