A comparison of public reimbursement for oncology versus non-oncology drugs in Canada.

Abstract

e17509 Background: In Canada, oncology drugs are reviewed by the pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) while non-oncology drugs are reviewed by the Common Drug Review (CDR). pCODR began accepting submissions for oncology drugs in July 2011. Both pCODR and CDR evaluate drugs for clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness to provide formulary listing recommendations to the publicly funded drug plans for all provinces excluding Quebec. The decision to list and under what criteria is under the authority of the provinces. There is limited published research that compares oncology and non-oncology drug reimbursement rates (RR) and time to listing (TTL) in publicly funded formularies in Canada. The objective of this study was to identify and report on differences in public RR and TTL between oncology and non-oncology drugs in Canada. Methods: This analysis studied all pCODR and CDR recommendations from July 2011 to December 2014. IMS Brogan iMAM Database was used to gather provincial listing data for all drugs selected in this study. Public sources were used to determine submission dates, recommendation dates and recommendation decisions. TTL was calculated from CDR/pCODR recommendation date to the date of public formulary listing. Results: 81% (30 of 37) of drugs received a positive recommendation from pCODR and 63% (64 of 102) of drugs received a positive recommendation from CDR. 78% (29 of 37) of submissions to pCODR received at least one provincial listing versus only 38% (39 of 102) of drugs reviewed by CDR. The average time to receive first provincial listing for oncology and non-oncology drugs was 127 and 151 days, respectively. Across all provinces, average TTL was similar between oncology and non-oncology drugs. Conclusions: Oncology drugs in Canada had a higher reimbursement rate and similar time to listing on provincial formularies compared to non-oncology drugs.