FROM THE TEAM - HAPPY NEW YEAR!
On behalf of our entire team at Cubic Health, I would like to wish all of our readers a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009. Beginning this month, our newsletter will return to its monthly format bringing our readers the latest in news related to the prescription drug benefit plan. If you have any questions you would like to have addressed in a future issue of Cubic Health Monthly, please email your question to kmacnair@cubichealth.ca
In the wake of the Competitive Agreements in Ontario and other changes to provincial drug pricing legislation, as well as the recent Competition Bureau report on the state of generic drug prices in Canada, one of the most important issues facing drug plans in 2009 will be drug pricing. To highlight the importance of the subject, our For the Plan Sponsor section of this month's newsletter focuses on some of pricing discrepancies that exist in the market. There have also been a number of important drug releases that are highlighted in the NOC Watch section of the newsletter.
This issue also highlights an important development in late 2008 that has significant risks for plan sponsors. The JUPITER Trial has provided evidence that low-risk adults with normal cholesterol can benefit from the daily use of a statin drug. This could have a material financial impact for plan sponsors.
We appreciate your support of Cubic Health Monthly and look forward to keeping all of you posted on important developments throughout 2009.
Sincerely,
Mike Sullivan
President
| DRUG & DISEASE NEWS |
Increasing Use of Cholesterol Lowering Drugs - Even in People with Normal Cholesterol
A recent study conducted by AstraZeneca (the makers of the cholesterol-lowering medication CrestorŽ) referred to as the JUPITER Trial, has found that CrestorŽ provides benefit to some patients even if they don't have classically defined high cholesterol. This study looked at almost 18,000 people with no prior history of heart disease. They had low to normal cholesterol levels but they did have elevated levels of another biological marker, C-reactive protein.
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NOC Watch:
XareltoŽ (Rivaroxaban)
JOI GalantamineŽ (Galantamine)
TasignaŽ (Nilotinib)
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| FOR THE PLAN SPONSOR |
Drug Pricing Discrepancies in Ontario
The subject of drug price discrepancies across Canada is not news. For many years, provincial governments across the country have paid different prices for the same product covered under their formularies. The situation within the private sector has been less transparent given that claims processors do not make their price files public.
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