Cubic News
Biosimilar Chorionic Gonadotropin in Quebec – Clarification
July 2011
This article originally published in the July/August 2011 edition of Cubic Health Monthly contained inaccuracies that we would like to correct. We apologize very sincerely to our readers and to the stakeholders impacted by the incorrect information.
In the article, we originally stated that the product Chorionic Gonadotropin manufactured by the Pharmaceutical Partners of Canada was effectively deemed interchangeable with the brand biologic product Pregnyl (chorionic gonadotropin) manufactured by Merck Canada Inc. That is not the case. These products are not deemed interchangeable in Quebec.
Although the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) formulary has grouped these two products together on Page 604 of the 32nd edition of the Liste de médicaments formulary published in June 2011, and despite the products having the same unit price, the Quebec government has reviewed these two products as innovative drugs, and did not look at interchangeability during the review process.
The article we originally published incorrectly stated that these products have effectively been deemed interchangeable, and that a pharmacist could substitute one product for another. The fact that these products are listed in the same box in the formulary, and have the same published unit price does not render these products legally interchangeable in Quebec. This is in contrast with other Canadian provinces that use their provincial formulary to indicate interchangeability.
What made this situation noteworthy in our eyes, and something that we wanted to share with our audience originally, is that previously, we had not seen any province include another product in the same grouping as a brand biologic drug on any provincial formulary. Our mistake was made when we inferred interchangeability when seeing these products grouped together in the same box with the same unit price in Quebec.
We regret the mistake and once again would like to extend our sincere apology to our readers, the Pharmaceutical Partners of Canada, and Merck Canada Inc.
Cubic Health Inc.
July 27, 2011
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