Access, Value and Reform: An Analysis of Canada's Pharmaceutical Policy Framework.

Abstract

This is a rejoinder to an article challenging the pharmaceutical industry's claims that Canada lags in access to innovative drugs due to substandard policies. This rejoinder is in agreement with the article's main argument that Canada succeeds in attracting the new drugs that matter most, and that higher prices or stronger intellectual property protection would have a negligible impact on the timing and degree to which new drugs are launched here generally. At the same time, the rejoinder does acknowledge the legitimacy of the industry's concerns around system inefficiencies stemming from federal-provincial fragmentation but posits that national pharmacare could resolve industry and payer concerns alike. The article calls for thoughtful reform, deeper research into unmet needs and a shift in focus toward patient-relevant outcomes.