About pCPA

Overview
History
Vision and Mandate
Where pCPA Fits in the Process
pCPA Office

 

Overview

Through collective negotiations, the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance has realized overall savings (as of April 30, 2022) of $2.67 billion annually for brand name drugs and $740 million annually for generic drugs totaling $3.41 billion in annualized savings.

History

The pCPA was originally established as the pan-Canadian Pricing Alliance in August 2010. It was created by the premiers of Canada though the Council of the Federation’s Health Care Innovation Working Group. The aim was to achieve greater value for publicly funded drug programs and patients through the combined negotiating power of participating jurisdictions.

In 2015, the alliance was formalized with the new name pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, a mandate and objectives were developed, a governance structure was implemented, and an office was created to provide support to the member jurisdictions. Also, in 2015, Quebec joined the alliance and in 2016, the federal drug plans joined.

pCPA member jurisdictions include public drug plan participation from: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland & Labrador, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB), Correctional Services of Canada (CSC) and Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC)

Vision and Mandate 

Vision: To demonstrate collective leadership through value-driven investments in effective treatments that improve the health of Canadians and preserve a sustainable publicly funded health system in Canada. 

Mandate: To conduct collective, expert-informed negotiations and achieve the pCPA objectives:

• increase access to relevant and cost-effective treatments;
• achieve consistent and  lower drug costs;
• reduce duplication and optimize resource utilization; and 
• improve consistency in funding decisions.

Where pCPA fits in the Canadian Drug Review and Approval Process

pCPA is one part of the overall Canadian drug approval and reimbursement process.

_{*Please note that the figure above is a simplified illustration of the process and there can be exceptions.}

 

Health Canada

Health Canada reviews drugs for safety, efficacy and quality before authorizing them for sale in Canada.

 

CADTH & INESSS

In Canada there are two health technology assessment organizations which review the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a drug product; the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) and in Quebec, l’Institut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS). CADTH and INESSS provide a recommendation to public drug plans on whether or not a drug should be reimbursed for public funding.

pCPA

The pCPA negotiation process begins for the majority of new drugs, once a recommendation is published by CADTH and/or INESSS. pCPA uses the recommendations from CADTH and INESSS and other factors to determine whether or not it will enter into a negotiation for a drug. Following a successful negotiation, pCPA will issue a letter of intent which sets the terms of the agreement between pCPA and the drug manufacturer.

Public Drug Plans

Public Drug Plans make a final decision to fund a drug once a negotiation has been successfully completed and enter into a product listing agreement with the drug manufacturer.

 

pCPA Office

The pCPA office is hosted and staffed through Ontario and works closely with the jurisdictions providing support in negotiations, administration, communications, standardization, analytics, process design, and policy related to brand and generic products.

Corporate & Leadership	Senior Manager	Dominic Tan
	Senior Communications Advisor	Joanne Woodward Fraser
	Strategic Planning and Business Optimization Lead	Position to be filled
	Negotiations Consultant	Nessa Jamal
	Administrative Assistant	Shawna Robertson
Brand Drugs	Team Lead (A)	Jane Lui
	Senior Pharmacists	Aaron Aoki Nabil Kanji Position to be filled
	Senior Negotiators	Anchalee Srisombun Position to be filled
	Senior Program Analyst	Position to be filled
	Negotiations Consultant	Position to be filled
	Program Analyst	Position to be filled
	Administrative Assistant	Kerri-Ann Cushnie
	Financial Consultant	Jaya Venkatesh
Generic Drugs	Generics Program Coordinator	Andrew Girgis
	Senior Program Analyst	Andrew Girgis
	Administrative Assistant	Position to be filled
Analytics & Strategy	Senior Economist	Daniel Sperber
	Negotiations Consultant	Position to be filled
	Senior Health Economists	Josh Dubé Position to be filled
	Health Economists	Chanh-Phong Tran