The latest edition of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) CompassRx report shows that the 10 highest-cost drugs reimbursed by public drug plans in Canada were all rare disease treatments with annual treatment costs of over $250,000.
CompassRx is an annual report published under the National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System (NPDUIS) research initiative. CompassRx provides insight into the factors driving prescription drug expenditures in select Canadian public drug plans. This edition focuses on the 2021-22 fiscal year, where increased use of higher-cost drugs continued to be the main factor driving growth.
The findings from this report will inform policy discussions at the provincial/territorial level, and aid decision makers in anticipating and responding to evolving cost pressures that have an impact on public drug plans. The study includes all provincial public drug plans (with the exception of Quebec), as well as Yukon and the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program. These plans account for approximately one third of the total annual spending on prescription drugs in Canada.
