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, 2016. 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 patented drugs, and reports on the research and development (R&D) expenditures as reported by patentees.

Below are the Statistical Highlights of 2016:

Regulatory Mandate

• 1,435 patented drug products for human use were reported to the PMPRB, including 128 new drug products.
• 12 Voluntary Compliance Undertakings were accepted as at December 31, 2016.
• $5.0 million in excess revenues were offset by way of payment to the Government of Canada, in addition to price reductions.

Reporting Mandate

Sales Trends:

• There were $15.5 billion in sales of patented drug products in Canada in 2016, an increase of 2.6% from 2015.
• Patented drug products accounted for 60.8% of the total drug sales in Canada, a decrease from 61.6% in 2015.

Price Trends:

• Prices of existing patented drug products were stable, while the Consumer Price Index rose by 1.4%.
• Canadian prices were fourth highest among the seven PMPRB comparator countries, lower than prices in Switzerland, Germany and the US.

R&D-to-Sales Ratios Unchanged in 2016:

• 4.4% for all patentees, unchanged from 2015.
• 4.9% for Innovative Medicines Canada members, unchanged from 2015.

Research and Development:

• $918.2 million in total R&D expenditures were reported by patentees, an increase of 5.7% over 2015.
• $769.9 million in R&D expenditures were reported by Innovative Medicines Canada members, an increase of 0.3% over 2015.

For more information regarding the 2016 Annual Report, please visit the PMPRB website.