Transatlantic Cooperation on Medicines - Latest Developments
- 18/07/2019
- Articles
A visit to Canada by the Dutch Minister for Medical Care, Bruno Bruins, has given rise to interesting news regarding international cooperation on medicine pricing. According to the attached press release of 17 July 2019, The Netherlands is spearheading an effort to have Canada sign up to the Beneluxa initiative on medicines (http://www.beneluxa.org/). Beneluxa is an international alliance for pharmaceutical policy composed of Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. Medicine pricing is one of the pillars of Beneluxa along with other areas such as horizon scanning.
A possible transatlantic contribution to Beneluxa by Canada would undoubtedly add considerable economic weight to the grouping and to the pricing negotations which it initiates. At the same time, it would create a further layer of technical complexity that may cause an already cumbersome organisation to become entirely unwieldy.
Separately, Canada also wants to participate in the International Horizon Scanning Initiative (“IHSI”) in which countries from the Beneluxa group and others seek to identify innovative medicines before they reach the market. The initiative is supposed to inform decision-making on treatment choices and prepare members for tough budgetary discussions. An announcement on the countries that will participate in IHSI is scheduled for October 2019.
