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By Dr. Bettina Hamelin<\/p>\n
When the federal government launched its Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Sector Task Force on March 18, it demonstrated that Ottawa is finally connecting two conversations that should never have been separated: how we build a stronger Canada, and how we ensure Canadians have access to the medicines they need.<\/p>\n
As President & CEO of Innovative Medicines Canada (IMC)\u2014representing 43 innovative pharmaceutical companies operating in this country\u2014I\u2019m proud to sit at that table. Not because it represents a win for our industry, but because it could represent a turning point for Canada.<\/p>\n
There’s more to medicines than medicine<\/p>\n
For decades, we\u2019ve treated innovative medicines\u2014the patented, breakthrough therapies that treat cancer, autoimmune disorders, and rare and infectious diseases\u2014as a health expense to be minimized rather than a strategic asset to be cultivated. Yet evidence tells a different story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Innovative medicines make our population healthy, our workforce more productive, and our healthcare system more resilient. A recent study by Dr. Frank Lichtenberg at Columbia University found that sustained investments in innovative medicines reduced hospital days in Canada by 55 per cent in 2022, saving nearly $80 billion in hospital costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The economic benefits are just as compelling. Canada\u2019s pharmaceutical industry supports more than 110,000 high-value jobs and contributes at least $18.4 billion to the economy annually, reinvesting $3.2 billion back into Canada\u2019s research and development.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These are the kinds of health, economic, and cost-saving benefits a nation-building strategy should protect and expand. Few industries bring foreign direct investment and keep people out of hospital so they can drive other parts of the economy. Instead, Canada’s approach has been to push drug prices as low as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Drug affordability matters, but price alone is the wrong measure of value. People might be surprised to know it takes on average $3.5 billion in investment and 10 to 15 years of research and testing to develop a single new medicine, with no guarantee of success. When government agencies start negotiating prices with companies at a 70 to 90 per cent discounted rate, it reflects a system that\u2019s fundamentally misaligned with the economics of innovation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What Canada needs now is a solution that balances drug and healthcare affordability with a viable innovation market, particularly during this period of global uncertainty and intensifying competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Global drug policy shifts<\/p>\n
The introduction of a most-favoured nation (MFN) drug pricing policy in the U.S., which aims to lower American prices and shift a greater share of innovation costs onto countries like Canada, has triggered a global chain reaction that\u2019s influencing which countries get innovative medicines first. This move comes alongside President Trump\u2019s recent executive order to impose a 100 per cent tariff on imported patented medicines and active ingredients.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Canada, this exposes a critical vulnerability: we have long benefited from U.S.-funded pharmaceutical innovation to keep domestic drug prices low. That imbalance has now become a line in the sand, and the stakes couldn\u2019t be higher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Canada already ranks last in the G7 for timely access to innovative medicines, with only 18 per cent of globally available medicines reaching Canadians through public drug plans, compared to the OECD average of 28 per cent. Without decisive reforms, these gaps will widen.<\/p>\n
A meaningful step in the right direction<\/p>\n
The task force represents a unified, pan-Canadian approach to addressing these global drug policy challenges. For the first time in a long time, we have a table that brings together government and industry to co-create solutions for patients and industry alike.<\/p>\n
We know what\u2019s possible when the public and private sectors choose to work together. Since Ontario’s FAST program\u2014Funding Accelerated for Specific Treatments\u2014was announced last fall 2025, eight new life-extending cancer treatments have been fast-tracked to patients. That\u2019s what the task force can help replicate on a national scale.<\/p>\n
The opportunity is real. Canada offers several strategic advantages few markets can match: world-class researchers and academic institutions, a diverse population ideal for clinical trials, and rigorous drug safety and efficacy standards. But market conditions must be right for these advantages to translate into concrete outcomes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Quebec’s experience is an instructive example. In the 1990s, the province was a hub for drug research and development, but when the government abolished a key policy protecting the price of patented drugs in 2013, many companies left and took their investments with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While countries around the world are actively competing for life sciences investment, Canada\u2019s overly restrictive, price-focused reimbursement environment is holding us back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
IMC\u2019s calls to action<\/p>\n
One of the most effective levers Canada can pull is to reform the way new medicines are evaluated, priced, and covered by public drug plans. This means adapting the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance’s pricing processes to global standards, addressing the limitations of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board to better reflect global market realities, and reviewing Canada\u2019s Drug Agency’s health technology assessments, which can include punishing price reduction recommendations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To address equitable access, we must expand accelerated access pathways for innovative medicines across all provinces, modelled after Ontario’s FAST program. And we must discuss aligning Canada\u2019s intellectual property protections with those of our U.S. and European trading partners during the upcoming review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beyond these reforms, we also need to address constrained provincial budgets. That\u2019s why IMC is calling on Ottawa to prioritize pharmaceutical innovation and Canada\u2019s life sciences ecosystem as a nation-building imperative. Life sciences is like infrastructure. You invest up front and reap the benefits later.<\/p>\n
This means multi-year, targeted federal investment to provinces, specifically for new, innovative medicines. The goal is to create predictable launch and drug supply conditions that increase Canada\u2019s health sovereignty and national security, while reducing our vulnerability to global pressures.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The work ahead is urgent\u2014for patients waiting on treatments, for an industry deciding where to invest and launch its medicines, and for a country that can’t afford to fall further behind. The task force is expected to deliver its recommendations to Prime Minister Carney\u00a0at the end of\u00a0June.\u00a0IMC is committed to ensuring they don’t just inform the conversation, but drive real change.<\/p>\n
Dr.\u202fBettina Hamelin is the President\u202f&\u202fCEO of Innovative Medicines Canada, the national association\u202frepresenting\u202fCanada\u2019s innovative pharmaceutical\u202findustry.\u202f\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n
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