2015 Annual Report Released

 Earlier today, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB), in accordance with sections 89 and 100 of the Patent Act, released its Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2015. The Annual Report is an extensive document that reviews all of the PMPRB’s major activities, analyses of the prices of patented medicines and of the price trends of all drugs, and reports on the R&D expenditures as reported by patentees.

Below are the Statistical Highlights of 2015:

Regulatory Mandate

• 1,359 patented drug products for human use were reported to the PMPRB, including 86 new drug products.
• 5 Voluntary Compliance Undertakings were accepted as of December 31, 2015.
• $7.1 million in excess revenues were offset by way of payment to the Government of Canada, in addition to price reductions.
• 2 Notices of Hearing were issued with respect to allegations that Galderma Canada Inc. and Baxalta Canada Corporation each failed to provide required pricing and sales information.

Reporting Mandate

Sales Trends:

• There were $15.2 billion in sales of patented drug products in Canada in 2015, an increase of 9.5% from 2014.
• Patented drug products accounted for 61.8% of the total drug sales in Canada, an increase from 59.9% in 2014.

Price Trends:

• Prices of existing patented drug products were stable, while the Consumer Price Index rose by 1.1%
• Canadian prices were third highest among the seven PMPRB comparator countries, lower only than prices in Germany and the US.

Research and Development (R&D):

• $869.1 million in total R&D expenditures were reported by patentees, an increase of 9.7% over 2014.
• $767.4 million in R&D expenditures were reported by Innovative Medicines Canada (formerly Rx&D) members, an increase of 7.8% over 2014.

R&D-to-sales ratios decreased in 2015:

• 4.4% for all patentees, up from 4.3% in 2014.
• 4.9% for Innovative Medicines Canada members, up from 4.8% in 2014.

For more information regarding the 2015 Annual Report, please visit the PMPRB website.