MORSE Consulting is pleased to release a new report entitled Spotlight on the Atlantic Provinces: pCPA Letter of Intent Conversion and Time-to-Listing Analysis.
While the majority of Canadians have some form of prescription medication coverage, the speed and extent to which individual patients gain access to new therapies, can vary significantly. As new drugs (and expanded indications for existing drugs) are approved by Health Canada and become available for use within the healthcare system, they are considered for coverage by a “patchwork” system of private insurance and government-sponsored public drug programs.
In order to be considered for coverage by Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial (F/P/T) drug programs, each new drug/indication must be reviewed by the applicable Health Technology Assessment (HTA) agency, and is subject to collective price negotiations by F/P/T drug program personnel, through the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA). After these two national-level processes are successfully completed, new drugs/indications can be listed by the individual F/P/T drug programs.
The pCPA has publicly stated a goal of eventually completing 90% of negotiations within a 26-week time frame however, the 41 negotiations for new drugs/indications completed in 2018, spent an average of almost 49 weeks (median ~42 weeks) within the pCPA process. As F/P/T listings begin AFTER the HTA and pCPA processes are complete, it is not unusual that the “best case scenario” for access to new treatment options through the public drug programs to take 12-18 months after HTA review. As the F/P/T drug programs list new drugs/indications based on their own priorities, budget capacity, timelines and processes, access to new medications can be highly variable across the country’s public drug programs.
This report focuses on the 132 pCPA negotiations for new drugs/indications completed from 2015 to 2018, and examines the subsequent listing data for a sub-set of the pCPA member jurisdictions. It includes a comparison of the 4 Atlantic provinces in terms of the number/percentage of listings, as well as the average number of months it takes the provinces to convert completed pCPA Letters of Intent (LOIs) to listings.
A complimentary copy of the report can be downloaded HERE.
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MORSE Consulting Inc. is a leader in strategic pharmaceutical market access consulting in Canada. Our team has significant expertise in reimbursement strategy in a wide range of therapeutic areas and has built a reputation for providing meaningful strategic insights. MORSE has established strong, constructive relationships with healthcare stakeholders and a proven track record for delivering impactful results to its clients.
Photo: Matt Hintsa
