Health committee  On the list I talked about, the seven drugs that were looked at as first-in-class drugs, one of the drugs on there is our own Sensipar. The product is used for people on dialysis, a very serious disease. Today, after a negative CDR recommendation, it is approved in Quebec for reimbursement, and it is actually under certain conditions approved in B.C. for reimbursement.

Health committee  First of all, if we look at Heath Canada, it is going to make the decision around advocacy and safety. So that's the first hurdle. I think they are in the best position to give you that balance. I think the more specialized the product is, the more safety concerns there are going to be as well.

Health committee  I'll go back to your first question, since I'm a bit behind here. It always has to be a balance concerning the appropriate use of a drug. There's no doubt about it. We are not advocating that new is the best, which often is the most expensive drug for every given situation. But when it comes down to life and death, or to a product that definitely can change a life, it's not all right to take that option away from patients.

Health committee  I would love to.

Health committee  Yes, meaning that I think the answer is that at the end of the day patients go through their diseases. Our objective at Amgen is to make sure we find solutions for these very severe patients. That doesn't mean the solutions we are going to come up with are going to help everybody, but it is our mission statement to make sure we provide alternative approaches to very severe diseases.

Health committee  Yes, I would like to take this one. One of the things that would be our recommendation on the JODR is to make absolutely sure that we don't repeat the same mistakes we made with CDR. Our point of view is it's not who's at fault in the process; it is who suffers. At the end of the day it is the patient who is denied access.

Health committee  Good morning, Madam Chair, honourable members of the committee. My name is Daniel Billen. I'm vice-president and general manager of Amgen in Canada. I want to thank the committee for having invited me to this hearing and I am very pleased to have this opportunity to present AMGEN's viewpoint on the effectiveness of the Common Drug Review Program.