BIOTECanada is concerned Bill C-64, An Act Respecting Pharmacare is a piecemeal and uncoordinated approach to addressing gaps in healthcare coverage which risks disrupting the current balance of public and private programs for drugs. This disruption will have significant implications for Canadian patients at a critical time when remarkable new drugs and drug technologies are emerging from the biotech sector, including those being developed by Canadian biotech companies. The system is seized with delivering the new, complex therapies forthcoming from throughout the sector, including gene and cell therapies, combination biologics and many others. Importantly, many of these new technologies are long-awaited innovations for patients with rare diseases; the nature of their respective illnesses already have extensive delays in diagnosis, and very limited solutions for care. In this context, it is important for the system of care, already complicated and lengthy, not endure any further constraints on its ability to adopt new solutions to improve the care for Canadian patients.
The goal for regulators, payers, and innovators alike should be a streamlined system of regulatory and health technology assessment aimed at delivering the best of new, life saving therapies, that meets the dynamic of scientific innovation in a safe, timely and effective manner. In this context, initiatives such as pharmacare must ensure Canada remains at the forefront of a regulatory system designed to meet patient needs, while adapting to the scientific discoveries imminent throughout the sector.
BIOTECanada will continue to work to represent the opportunities for Canada to modernize its healthcare system using the best of new technologies and solutions emanating from throughout the Canadian ecosystem and global network of researchers, entrepreneurs and manufacturers building the solutions patients need today and in the future.