Sask. pharmacy rebates could top $30M, health officials say

From CBC News:
The province's prescription drug plan is estimated to cost taxpayers about $313 million this year, according to the provincial budget. (CBC)The Saskatchewan government is keeping a wary eye on the manufacturers' drug rebates being paid to pharmacies — an estimated $30 million to $40 million a year.

According to Health Ministry officials, the money — which the makers of generic prescription drugs routinely pay to pharmacy companies — should be going toward reducing the overall drug bill for taxpayers.

There are about 350 pharmacies in the province, so $35-million worth of rebates would work out to an average of $100,000 for each one.

For years, the province has liked generic drugs, because they're cheaper than their brand-name equivalents — and keeping drugs costs under control has been a priority.

Kevin Wilson, the executive director of the Health Ministry's drug plan branch, says the impact of rebates on drug costs is a problem the government is just trying to get a handle on now.

"It's more challenging as this has started to come to light," he said. "Our focus would be to focus on getting the lowest reimbursement price on generic drugs … and at the same time providing fair compensation to pharmacists." ...more

Key players implicated in scheme to boost generic drug profits

From the Globe and Mail:
Many of the largest players in Canada's generic drug industry have been implicated in an illegal scheme that involved wholesalers and pharmacies collecting inflated rebates by selling the same product over and over.

The Ontario government yesterday ordered seven of Canada's largest generic drug makers, four wholesalers and a retail pharmacy to reimburse the province a total of $33.8-million - the amount it alleges that patients were overcharged for generic prescription drugs.

"It's a multimillion-dollar abuse of the system," assistant deputy health minister Helen Stevenson said at a news conference yesterday.

The government alleges that wholesalers and retailers bought more drugs than they needed and resold the excess among themselves, collecting a rebate or "professional allowance" from the manufacturer on each transaction.

"We call that drug recycling," Ms. Stevenson said.

The full extent of the problem will not be known until the government completes forensic audits of other industry players, including retail pharmacies, she said. ...more

Depression drug doubles in price for P.E.I. man

From CBC News:
A P.E.I. man has raised the alarm about the rising cost of prescription drugs after the drug he uses to treat depression more than doubled in price this month.

Tom Clark of Murray Harbour, in eastern P.E.I., has been taking trimipramine for 19 years, but he got a shock Thursday when he tried to refill the prescription.

"It went from $45 to $105 in less than a month," said Clark.

Trimipramine is made by Canadian drug maker Apotex. The company notified retailers April 1 that it was raising the price of the drug and several others. Pharmacists on the Island say the increase in the price of trimipramine is just one of several hefty increases this month from drug companies. They advise people with concerns to contact their local pharmacist.

"Will their drug prices go up because of this? That would be the question I'd ask," said Paul Jenkins, a pharmacist with the Friendly Pharmacy in Charlottetown. ...more

Canadians using more prescription drugs, drug-tracking firm reports

From the Canadian Press:
Canadians are taking more prescription drugs than ever before, and increasingly those medicines are generic versions rather than brand-names, says a company that tracks worldwide pharmaceutical sales.

In a report released Thursday, IMS Health said the number of prescriptions filled by Canadians rose by more than seven per cent in 2008 over the previous year.

Prescription spending last year hit an estimated $21.4 billion, up from $20.2 billion in 2007, said IMS. In all, pharmacists countrywide dispensed 453 million prescriptions, for an average of roughly 14 per Canadian.

Brian Carter, director of external affairs for IMS Health Canada, said the 2008 rise in total prescriptions reflects a trend that's been going on for several years.

"Basically it's an increased utilization, but that's driven by things like the aging population, an increasing number of products in the marketplace and increasing awareness of consumers of the diseases they have and the drugs that are there to treat them," Carter said from Edmonton. ...more

Albertans paying more for generic drugs, U of C study says

From the Calgary Herald:
Albertans are paying "very high prices" for generic drugs when compared with prices seen in other countries - a result of provincial policies, a new report from the University of Calgary said.

The research paper, written by U of C professor Aidan Hollis, said current policies across Canadian provinces - not just in Alberta - do a poor job of ensuring low drug prices. Among Hollis's concerns include insurance rules that discourage patients from looking for lower-priced drugs and the lack of incentives for drug companies to introduce other generic drugs to the market to challenge what's already available.

"Thanks to the expected arrival of generic versions of several blockbuster drugs, it appears that generic drugs will be one of the fastest-growing elements of health expenditures in Canada over the next few years," Hollis said in the paper. "Thus, given both the importance of generic drug expenditures and the extensive revision of drug procurement policies in other provinces, the time seems ripe for a review of Alberta’s policies."

The report estimated that 51 per cent of the prescriptions filled in Alberta are generic drugs - at a total cost of $400 million in 2007. In a comparison of the lowest prices available for generic drugs, the report found that consumers in Ontario paid only about 82 per cent of what Albertans paid for a comparable drug. ...more

Generic drug maker suit against federal government reaches trial stage

From the Canadian Press:
Federal regulations that bar Canada's generic drug makers from copying brand-name products for eight years after patents expire will come under the judicial microscope Tuesday as a two-year-old lawsuit reaches Federal Court.

The generic drug makers want the court to set aside rules that they argue cost consumers $115 million in extra drug costs every year.

The regulations, implemented in 2006 under the Food and Drugs Act, were designed to protect the extensive and expensive data that manufacturers need to seek approval for a drug. The data include the results of studies and clinical trials.

The rules prohibit Health Canada from licensing a generic version - generally cheaper than the brand-name equivalent - until after the eight-year period for those drugs where patent protections have lapsed. ...more

Druggists afraid of squeeze on payments

From the Toronto Star:
Brampton pharmacist Ben Shenouda says it costs $10 on average to fill a prescription in Ontario, but the provincial government pays him just $7 for the seniors, welfare recipients and others who qualify for provincial drug coverage.

The owner of an independent pharmacy, Shenouda says he makes up the shortfall by using some of the "professional allowances" he receives from generic drug makers for stocking their products.

Ontario pharmacists fear those payments are under attack, as the government eyes the millions of dollars they received in allowances from generic drug makers. Under Ontario law, pharmacies are supposed to use the allowances to improve patient care, providing such things as flu and diabetes clinics.

This week, the federal consumer watchdog released a report that said Canadian taxpayers, consumers and businesses could save up to $800 million a year if the generic drug industry were more competitive. The Competition Bureau concluded the market would improve if pharmacists passed on the allowances they get from generic drug makers to customers – something the bureau says rarely happens. ...more

Selling generic drugs in more competitive market could save millions: study

From the Canadian Press:
A more competitive generic drug market could save Canada's health-care system $800 million a year, the Competition Bureau says in a study released Tuesday.

Some of this money could be used to maintain or improve drug plans, reduce premiums or directly fund some pharmacist services, competition commissioner Sheridan Scott said in a Toronto speech.

"Progress is being made to get generic drugs at lower prices," Scott told the Economic Club in Toronto.

"We expect this amount (of savings) will climb significantly over the next three years, as some of the blockbuster brand-name drugs that came on to the market in the 1990s lose their patent protection and generic equivalents appear on the market."

The study, entitled Benefiting from Generic Drug Competition in Canada: The Way Forward, estimates the potential savings at more than $1 billion in coming years if changes are made to how generic drugs are paid for.

"Obtaining these savings, however, requires changes to allow the price Canadians pay for generic drugs to be based on the competitive price of the drug," Scott said. ...more

Cleverer drug buying could save $800M a year, competition czar says

From the Toronto Star:
Canadian taxpayers, consumers and business could save up to $800 million a year if private and public sector plans changed the way they paid for generic drugs, Canada's consumer watchdog says.

Both the private sector and governments could start now using tools that encourage pharmacies to compete more aggressively for their business and ensure they pass on millions in savings they receive from generic drug makers, the competition bureau said.

Such strategies could include using more mail-order pharmacies, shopping around for the lowest drug-dispensing fees and negotiating group rates from preferred pharmacists, federal competition commissioner Sheridan Scott said in prepared notes for a speech to be delivered today.

"We believe Canadians deserve a health system that is safe and effective, but also delivers the maximum possible value to Canadians," Scott said in the notes.

The potential savings from more competitive pricing could climb to over $1 billion a year in coming years as several blockbuster patent drugs lose their patent protection, the federal competition bureau also said in a report issued today. ...more

SCOC upholds blood-thinning drug patent

From Canada.com:
The Supreme Court of Canada blocked the sale of a generic version of a popular blood-thinning drug in a ruling Thursday that reinforced patent protection to encourage brand-name pharmaceutical companies and other businesses to invest time and money into research.

The court unanimously dismissed generic drug-maker Apotex's bid to quash a Canadian patent for best-seller Plavix, which expires in 2012.

The ruling settles an intellectual property dispute over the validity of secondary patents that give drug companies protection, not only for their original inventions, but for an entire family of possible chemical compounds that encourage scientists to go back to the laboratory to improve a product. ...more

Litigation train keeps rolling on

From the Financial Post:
Harry Radomski of the law firm Goodmans in Toronto is lead generic drug counsel for Apotex inc. He's driving a litigation train.

Notice of compliance cases -- a method pharmaceutical companies use for obtaining approval of a new drug -- constitute some 90% of the firm's IP litigation, generating between $10-and $20-million in annual billings for Mr. Radomski and his colleagues.

The truth is that pharmaceutical litigation of the kind known as generic drug litigation is a docket hog. Such cases make up at least 60% of all patent cases in the Federal Court and consume at least 75% of the legal fees. Indeed, on one summer day, 17 of the 20 motions on the Federal Court list in Toronto were pharmaceutical cases.

"IP litigation lawyers should erect a monument to Barry Sherman," says Scott Jolliffe, managing partner of Gowling Lafleur Henderson in Toronto.

Mr. Sherman is the founder of Apotex, Canada's largest pharmaceuticals manufacturer and a maker of generic drugs that fill some 50 million prescriptions in Canada annually -- "the devil incarnate to the brands," as one lawyer calls the company. With costs of $100-million to $1-billion to bring a drug to market, brand-name drugmakers, known as innovators, have a huge investment to recoup. ...more

Secret rebates amount to a tax on patients

I usually don't post many opinion pieces, but I thought this one was interesting and worthy of debate. Any comments?

From the Victoria Times Colonist:
The government of British Columbia, in an attempt to save money on its drug purchases, has recently introduced a sole-sourcing strategy in which it receives secret rebates. This strategy is in effect a hidden tax on consumers of those medicines.

The first product for which the government has used this secret-rebate strategy is olanzapine, which is prescribed for various mental disorders including schizophrenia.

Although olanzapine is generically available everywhere else in Canada, the province has struck a deal with Lilly, the manufacturer of the branded version Zyprexa, to make it the only version of olanzapine available in B.C. under PharmaCare. (Virtually everyone in B.C. is a member of PharmaCare, which offers some insurance for drugs, depending on income, age, and total drug expenditure.) ...more

Canadians getting fleeced on generic drugs: report

From the Vancouver Sun:
Canadians are getting gouged more than ever on generic prescription drugs, a study by the Fraser Institute reported Monday.

The report's author called for reforms that would see consumers shopping around for the best drug prices.

The conservative think-tank found Canadian prices for generic - non-brand name, off-patent - medications are an average of 112 per cent higher than those in the U.S. In 2003, the Fraser Institute found prices here were 78 per cent higher than in the U.S.

At the same time, Canadian prices on brand-name drugs are an average of 53 per cent lower than American prices, a result of federal caps on drug costs.

The Fraser Institute report compared Canadian and American retail prices for a few hundred commonly prescribed drugs, half brand-name and the other half generics. ...more

Provinces angry over drug rules

From the Globe and Mail:
Provinces are lashing back at proposed federal regulations that would extend the patent life of a number of popular medications and postpone the introduction of generic copies, a move that could cost drug plans hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Generic drugs here play an important role in the sustainability of the provincial plan, so delays in accessing those generic drugs will have a direct cost impact on the provincial drug plan and also [on] patients who pay for their own drugs," said Johanne Leblanc, a spokeswoman for the New Brunswick government.

New Brunswick has written to the federal government to express its concerns and to urge further consultation, she said.

The federal government has not released a list of which drugs will be affected. But the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association, which represents the country's generic drug manufacturers, has said it could include such popular medications as Viagra, the cholesterol drug Lipitor, the blood-pressure medication Norvasc and the arthritis treatment Celebrex.

New Brunswick's provincial drug program spent almost $14.5-million last year on Lipitor, Norvasc and Celebrex alone, said Ms. Leblanc. ...more

Generic drug prices inflated, committee reports

From the Vancouver Sun:
Inflated prices on generic prescription drugs mean B.C.'s Pharmacare program and drug consumers are paying hundreds of millions of dollars more for medications than they should be each year, says former auditor-general George Morfitt, a member of a committee asked by the provincial government to identify drug funding and approval reforms.

Recommendations of The Report of the Pharmaceutical Task Force were made public Wednesday.

"Canadian prices [on non-brand name, off-patent drugs] are about 40 per cent too high compared [with] other countries," Morfitt said in an interview, referring to the fact that pharmacies receive a 30- to 40-per-cent rebate on bulk purchases of drugs from manufacturers.

However, they don't bother passing on those savings to consumers and Pharmacare.

"Pharmacare is paying artificially high prices," Morfitt said after the

Health Minister George Abbott said the government accepts all the recommendations of the task force and agrees that while British Columbians spend more than $1 billion annually on pharmaceutical products, there are clearly cost savings which have yet to be attained. ...more

Faster, cheaper, better: B.C. health minister promises pharmaceutical overhaul

From the Vancouver Sun:
The provincial government is promising faster drug-approval times and better access to cheaper generic drugs at the pharmacy counter once the recommendations of the Pharmaceutical task force become reality.

Health Minister George Abbott said British Columbians spend, on average, about $1 billion annually on pharmaceuticals.

"Are we getting the best deal? I think not. I think that it's pretty clear particularly in the area of the generics, that we are not getting a good deal," he said in an interview.

Abbott made the comments following an announcement Wednesday that the government would be accepting all the recommendations put forward by the Pharmaceutical task force. ...more

Drop patent regulations, generic drug makers urge

From the Globe and Mail:
Canada's generic drug companies are urging Parliament to abandon proposed regulations that would delay their ability to reproduce some of the most popular name-brand drugs that are currently on the market, including Viagra and Lipitor.

Jim Keon, the president of the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association, said his organization is considering taking the government to court to reverse the regulations that he says will cost Canadians hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

The changes to Canada's drug patent regime appeared in the Canada Gazette, the formal record of government notices, two weeks ago.

Under the new rules, patents that have been removed from drugs that were on the market prior to June 17, 2006, could be reinstated. ...more

Generics slam proposed drug patent rules

From the National Post:
New patent rules just proposed by the federal government would delay generic versions of Lipitor, Viagra and several other blockbuster drugs by as much as two years, costing consumers and taxpayers tens of millions of dollars annually, generic companies are warning.

The government says the regulations would simply restore fairness and stability to the brand-name industry after two court rulings put unexpected new curbs on the practice of "evergreening" -- filing new patents on a drug in an attempt to stave off generic competition.

Generic firms, which stand to lose business as a result of the suggested amendments, call the move an unjustified sop to the brand-name manufacturer. ...more

Pfizer Wins Canadian Order Blocking Generic Version of Lipitor

From Bloomberg:
Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drugmaker, won a Canadian appeals court ruling blocking regulatory approval of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.'s generic version of the cholesterol pill Lipitor.

Canada's Federal Court of Appeal yesterday reversed a lower-court ruling that Ranbaxy could seek approval for its competing version of Lipitor before Pfizer's patent expires in 2010, Pfizer spokeswoman Vanessa Aristide said in a phone interview.

Ranbaxy, India's largest drugmaker, also challenged Lipitor patents in the Netherlands. Pfizer said in February it would appeal a Dutch ruling invalidating one of its patents covering Lipitor, the world's best-selling medicine with ales of $12.7 billion last year. Ranbaxy can appeal yesterday's ruling to Canada's Supreme Court. The order doesn't apply to litigation in other countries, including the U.S., Aristide said. ...more

Pharmacare to cover 120 more generic drugs

From the Winnipeg Free Press:
The Manitoba government will add 120 new generic drugs to be covered under Manitoba's Pharmacare Program , Health Minister Theresa Oswald said Thursday.

The decision, effective March 19, means the province will save about $4 million a year as these generic drugs will replace more costly prescription medication. The province already covers more than 1,950 drugs under the Pharmacare system. For a complete list of approved drugs go to www.gov.mb.ca/health/mdbif/.

Pharmacare assists patients with the cost of prescription drugs by covering all bills for them after an income-based deductible.

In a release Oswald said the generic drug cost savings are substantial. For example, generic blood pressure medication Ramipril costs about half as much as prescription drug Altace; Altace costs about $33.60 a month while Ramipril only $19.95.

Tory health critic Kelvin Goertzen said the province could save even more money be creating a speedier approval process for generic drugs -- drugs already approved by Health Canada. ...more