Thank you, Mr. Chair.
When we look at the briefs that we received, it becomes clear that we're dealing with objectively different points of views and interests. I want this study to help us find common ground, to ensure a win-win situation.
I'm advocating for the patients' point of view. I'm not only talking about patients, but about patients with rare diseases, since they're the most vulnerable. I'll play devil's advocate, as I did at the last meeting and as I'll do with all the people who will appear before the committee during this study.
At the last meeting, you told us the following:
... the average annual treatment cost of the top selling patented drugs increased by approximately 1,000% and the proportion of high-cost drugs—that is, drugs costing more than $10,000 per year—rose from 5% to about 40% of overall pharmaceutical spending. Yet less than 1% of the population are using these medicines.
However, the brief submitted by the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders states the following:
... the PMPRB continues to use alarmist language to convey the idea that Canada is paying too much for rare disease treatments and conflates drug spending categories to support its position. For instance, in the case of drugs for rare diseases, the PMPRB lumps together oncology medicines with those with true orphan indications to generate larger number to help justify the need for the reforms. In reality, in 2019, non-oncology rare disease treatments represented just 1.9% of the total Canadian medications bill.
What do you have to say about this?