Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, thank you for welcoming us and allowing us to participate in this important and strategic discussion.
My name is Anie Perrault, and I am the chief executive officer of BIOQuébec.
BIOQuébec is an industry association that represents Quebec‑based companies. They are biotechnology companies involved in research and development, contract research companies, preclinical and clinical research companies and venture capitalists. So we have a presence along the entire innovation spectrum, from research to commercialization.
I'm here because our members are concerned, even more so because of the COVID‑19 pandemic. The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) was created in the 1980s with a limited oversight role. Its purpose was to prevent the abuse of an exclusive right, the patent. That is the purpose of the Board.
Regulating drug prices is the responsibility of the provinces, which are in charge of health care and, as in Quebec, a drug insurance program—