{"entity":{"id":"paper-gotfrit-cancer-drug-access-pathway-canada-curr-oncol-2022","kind":"paper","name":"The pathway for new cancer drug access in Canada","aka":[],"tldr":"A plain map of the steps a new cancer drug passes through in Canada, from Health Canada's licence and the federal price ceiling through the national value review and joint price negotiation to each province's decision to pay.","summary":"A review of the regulatory and funding process for cancer drugs in Canada, covering Health Canada, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, health technology assessment by CADTH (and INESSS in Quebec), the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance and the provincial, territorial and federal payers, with recent changes and options to reduce duplication and delay.\n\nIt records that the three westernmost provinces fund all cancer drugs, oral and intravenous, while in Ontario and eastern Canada oral drugs go through provincial drug plans and intravenous ones through cancer programmes, and Quebec funds intravenous drugs through hospital budgets; that the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board reported cancer drug spending tripling to $3.9 billion in 2019, 14.6 per cent of the drug market; that Health Canada generally commits to a standard decision within 300 days and 180 for priority review; that CADTH targets about 200 days from screening to final recommendation; and that the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance publishes no formal negotiation timelines or decision criteria.","asOf":"2026-11-03","links":[{"label":"Curr Oncol 2022","url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol29020041"},{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35200541/"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":["health-canada","cda-amc","inesss"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":["current-oncology-mdpi"],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"journal":"Current Oncology","year":2022,"doi":"10.3390/curroncol29020041","pmid":"35200541","authors":"Gotfrit J, Dempster W, Chambers J, Wheatley-Price P","paperType":"review","findings":["Western provinces fund all cancer drugs; in Ontario and the east, oral cancer drugs go through provincial drug plans.","Cancer drug spending in Canada tripled to $3.9 billion in 2019 (14.6 per cent of the drug market, from 7.1 per cent in 2009), citing the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board.","Cites studies finding that the time from a pCODR recommendation to publication of the alliance's negotiation outcome took as long as 371 days in 2016."],"whatItMeans":"Approval in Canada is not access: a licensed cancer drug still has to pass a value review, a joint price negotiation and a provincial listing, and where you live decides how a take-home drug is paid for.","caveats":["A narrative review; timelines are quoted from other studies.","Written in 2022, before CADTH became Canada's Drug Agency and before the 2023 time-limited recommendation route."]},"route":"/key-papers/paper-gotfrit-cancer-drug-access-pathway-canada-curr-oncol-2022/","neighbours":{"institution":[{"id":"cda-amc","kind":"institution","name":"Canada's Drug Agency (CDA-AMC)","route":"/institutions/cda-amc/"},{"id":"health-canada","kind":"institution","name":"Health Canada","route":"/institutions/health-canada/"},{"id":"inesss","kind":"institution","name":"Institut national d'excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS)","route":"/institutions/inesss/"}],"journal":[{"id":"current-oncology-mdpi","kind":"journal","name":"Current oncology","route":"/journals/current-oncology-mdpi/"}]}}