CCHE Seminar Series

Dear All,

As part of the Canadian Centre for Health Economics (CCHE) Friday Health Economics Series, we welcome Professor Paul Grootendorst this Friday September 12th, 10am – 12pm in HS100 (Health Sciences Building 155 College Street). Professor Grootendorst will explore “Intellectual property protection and formulary coverage: evidence from Ontario”.

Paul Grootendorst is an Associate Professor and Director of the Division of Social and Administrative Pharmacy in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. He is also a Faculty Associate of the Canadian Centre for Health Economics. His research interests are on the economic aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, including drug development; pharmaceuticals use, insurance and reimbursement; and interactions between innovative (brand) and generic drug firms. He also has in interest in methods for program evaluation using observational data.

During the last 25 years, the Canadian government has strengthened intellectual property (IP) protections afforded to innovative pharmaceutical drugs. By delaying generic entry, these policy changes have presumably increased revenues accruing to brand firms. Revenues accruing to brand drugs, however, depend critically on the length of exclusivity on the formularies of the major drug plans. It is possible that, in the face of stronger IP protections for brand drugs, drug plans have become more restrictive in their coverage of new brand drugs. To test this, we assess the period of formulary exclusivity for the brand drugs approved for use in Canada over the last 35 years. We focus on the formulary of the Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) plan, the largest plan in Canada. We focus on the fraction of new drugs approved each year that were listed on the ODB formulary, the time between drug approval and formulary listing, and the time between formulary listing and the formulary listing of the first interchangeable generic drug. Results will be presented at the seminar.

To be added to the CCHE Health Economics seminar series mailing list please send an e-mail to: cche@utoronto.ca