On February 6, 2018, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) announced the publication of the most recent edition of its series of reports on generic drug pricing. The report, entitled Generics 360, compares generic drug prices in Canada with prices in other countries, with a particular focus on the PMPRB comparator countries (i.e., the PMPRB7; namely, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States). The report examines the prices of 605 leading generic drugs and indicates that average generic drug prices in Canada declined from 63% to 33% of their brand-name counterparts between Q1-2010 and Q4-2016. The report further indicates that Canada has narrowed the gap between its generic drug prices and those of foreign markets, although the average prices of generic drugs remain higher in Canada than internationally. In addition, although not factored into the results published, the report also describes a joint initiative announced on January 29, 2018 on behalf of participating federal, provincial, and territorial drug plans, the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance and the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association. As part of this five-year initiative, price discounts of 25-40% on some of the most commonly prescribed drugs in Canada (resulting in total discounts up to 90% of their brand-name counterparts) will take effect on April 1, 2018 (a list of the generic drugs is published here) and tendering will not be pursued by participating drug plans.
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