Ottawa’s new price controls for patented medicines in Canada are causing delayed product launches and a loss of jobs in the pharmaceutical industry, according to senior executives polled and interviewed for a comprehensive survey conducted for Life Sciences Ontario.
The 46 respondents included the leaders of 36 pharmaceutical companies and represented both Canadian companies and Canadian affiliates of global pharmaceutical companies.
All were unanimous in saying the new federal price controls will have a negative impact. The areas of business most markedly affected are in product launches and supply of products to the Canadian market, as well as in employment.
Company suspends regulatory submission
“We intended to launch a new medicine in early 2021,” said one executive. “Now that it's clear our price will be dramatically reduced, we suspended our regulatory submission because the original business case and pricing assumptions have been challenged.”
The executive said this is a compounding problem because if products are not launched in a timely way, it will have trickle-down effects on staffing, training, hiring support and patient programs.
The survey suggests other areas expected to be negatively affected include clinical research (91%), patient support programs (73%) and compassionate access programs (70%).
The therapeutic areas most threatened by the changes will be cancer medicines, biologic medicines and rare disorders.
Survey suggests there will indeed be negative consequences
“This survey refutes the federal government's position that there will be no negative consequences for Canadians from its new drug pricing policy," said Dr. Jason Field, president and CEO of Life Sciences Ontario. "LSO strongly supports efforts to ensure affordable drug prices for Canadians, but not at the expense of a completive life science environment that supports clinical research and makes new, innovative medicines available to Canadians.
Rachelle Deshaies, senior market research executive and principal at Research Etc., said she has never seen such unanimity about the impact of the new government policy.
"I was also struck by the consistency of the comments and business rationale about why this new policy will impact pharmaceutical companies and their ability to launch medicines in Canada."
