After a Canadian agency began requiring application fees from drug companies more than a decade ago, the odds that a drug — other than cancer treatments — would receive a recommendation for government funding rose dramatically, according to a new study. And the author suggested the fees created a conflict of interest that may have influenced agency decision-making.
Specifically, the likelihood that Canada’s Drug Agency would recommend that the federal government, provinces, and territories fund coverage of medicines was six times higher for all drugs, other than cancer medicines. The arm of the agency that handles submissions for medicines began requiring fees in September 2014, while the other unit overseeing cancer drugs took that step in April 2015.
The analysis tallied a total of 258 approved drugs for which companies submitted applications between 2009 and 2020, and then examined funding recommendations that were subsequently made through December 2020 for most drugs. Recommendations for cancer treatments were reviewed through December 2021. The findings were published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research.
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