The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB or Board) has released a “What We Learned” Report (the Report), marking the next step along the path to new Guidelines. The Report was prepared by Phoenix Strategic Perspectives Inc., which was commissioned to facilitate consultation with stakeholders and report on the presentations and discussions.
Overview
As we reported, the PMPRB launched its consultation on new Guidelines with a Scoping Paper in November 2023. The Scoping Paper identified six themes for consultation:
- The PMPRB mandate
- Excessive pricing
- Considerations for PMPRB Guidelines
- The life sciences ecosystem
- Alignment with broader government initiatives
- Stakeholder engagement
The Report summarizes feedback on each of these themes that was received at Policy Roundtable meetings, which took place with 34 stakeholder presentations in December 2023.
The Board also received 70 written submissions as part of the consultation process. The Report does not address the written submissions; the PMPRB advises that it will be reviewing these separately.
Next steps
The Board has previously indicated that it intends to finalize new Guidelines before the end of 2024. However, the Report does not include timelines for the Board’s review of written stakeholder feedback, nor for next steps in the consultation process or when a draft of the Guidelines will be released.