In a setback to the pharmaceutical industry, a Federal Court judge in Canada has dismissed a challenge by drug makers that contended controversial new government rules designed to regulate excessive pricing would inhibit innovation and hurt the Canadian economy.
Last August, the government passed regulations for patented drugs that would base Canadian prices on those from a group of countries with lower prices than a benchmark group now used to set ceilings. The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board would also review new drugs based on cost effectiveness assessments.
Specifically, the PMPRB will no longer consider prices in the U.S. and Switzerland, which have some of the world’s highest for prescription medicines, when trying to set maximum prices that drug makers may charge in Canada. At the same time, drug makers will have to provide the agency with actual costs for medicines in Canada, as opposed to list prices, which do not include any rebates or discounts.
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