Thank you.
I feel like I have to put a few points on the record. It's my understanding that the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board was created by the federal government after they extended patent protection to pharmaceutical companies. It was a quid pro quo for the extended time that pharmaceutical companies would be able to have exclusive profit-making for their molecules. By the way, a lot of research of pharmaceutical companies is done by them, but a lot of it is also done by public taxpayer dollars to universities as well. In exchange for that, there was a commitment by the federal government to control prices.
Ms. Fuller, this committee has received evidence indicating that Canada pays the fourth-highest prices among 31 OECD countries, 17% above the median price of those countries. Canada is the second-highest in the OECD in terms of how much it spends on patented medicines as a proportion of total health care costs, and in per-capita spending. Only the United States is higher in both cases. From 2014 to 2018, growth in spending on patented medicines in Canada has doubled that of GDP, and it's over three times the growth of inflation.
Ms. Fuller, do you believe the changes that the PMPRB is set to bring in will help to lower prices in Canada? The same question goes to you, Mr. Frank.