Canada: new formulary for new year - Ontario introducing reform

Since the Transparent Drug System for Patients Act (Bill 102) came into effect on October 1, 2006, the Ontario, Canada, government has listed 32 new brand name drugs - Avandia (rosiglitazone), Eprex (erythropoietin), Gleevec (imatinib mesylate), Crestor (rosuvastatin), Fosamax (alendronate) and Actos (pioglitazone) among them - under the Ontario Drug Benefit Plan.

"By working with our pharmaceutical partners, we're able to enter into agreements to list more drugs as well as increase our capacity to list generic products and invest those cost savings into our continued efforts to help patients gain even more access to new therapies," said Health and Long Term Care Minister George Smitherman, welcoming the latest formulary update in December 2006.

More than 24 additional generic branded products were also listed on the December formulary, including Apo-Omeprazole by Apotex, which alone is expected to save the government C$30.0 million ($25.8 million) a year. The new prices took effect on January 2, 2007 and a full, new Ontario Drug Benefit Formulary is scheduled to be published this month or early February.