On March 30, 2022, the Minister of Health tabled the 2020 Annual Report of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB). The 2020 Annual Report outlines the PMPRB’s mandate, structure and regulatory activities and contains analyses of pharmaceutical sales and pricing trends and research and development (R&D) expenditures. According to the 2020 Annual Report:

• sales of patented medicines in Canada increased by 1.6% over the previous year, totalling $17.5 billion in 2020;
• list prices of patented medicines in Canada remained, on average, lower than prices in the United States, Germany and Switzerland and higher than prices in the United Kingdom, Sweden and France; and
• overall R&D expenditures reported by patentees decreased by 7.9% over the previous year, totalling $822.9 million, while R&D expenditures reported by Innovative Medicines Canada members increased by 1.6% over the previous year and totalled $662.8 million.

The PMPRB has also released its April 2022 NEWSletter, which contains a response to the April 14, 2022 statement of the Minister of Health regarding amendments to the Patented Medicines Regulations set to come into force on July 1, 2022 (see our reporting on the Minister’s statement and the PMPRB’s response). Other highlights include the January 1, 2022 launch of the PMPRB’s new online filing tool and an update on recent activities and new and upcoming publications of the National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System (NPDUIS).

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