CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne
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Comparative Study
Time required for approval of new drugs in Canada, Australia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States in 1996-1998.
The timeliness with which national regulatory agencies approve new drugs for marketing affects health care professionals and patients. An unnecessarily long approval process delays access to new medications that may improve patients' health status. The author compared drug approval times in Canada, Australia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. ⋯ Median drug approval times during 1996-1998 decreased by varying amounts from the 1995 values in all 5 countries. However, the median approval time in Canada continues to be significantly longer than the times achieved in Sweden, the UK and the US, and it remains considerably longer than Canada's own target of 355 days for all new drugs.
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Pharmaceutical policy in Canada is set at both the federal and provincial levels of government. The federal government is responsible for intellectual property rights of manufacturers (patents) and the initial approval and labelling of prescription drugs and for ensuring overall market competitiveness. ⋯ One key failing of the system is that the federal government is almost completely insulated from the impact of its policies because, although it regulates drug prices, it does not buy any drugs. In contrast, provincial governments have no jurisdiction over market competitiveness or pricing, yet end up paying for most of the drug expenditures incurred.